Parents and grandparents need look no further for the perfect gift for your child or grandchild than the life insurance industry.

Let’s just be stone cold real about this. Children often wait until they are in their 40’s to consider getting life insurance. The why of that is no mystery. Young adult people feel immortal until they start experiencing friends and relatives their age dying prematurely. A lot of the calls I get start off with, “well, we’re expecting our second child and decided it’s probably time to look into life insurance“. Probably time? It was time when you decided to get married or for those who don’t like the idea of marriage, it was time when you moved in together.

At that point you’ve both taken on a responsibility to the other person. They are now dependent on you and you on them. Anyone that doesn’t believe that, well, you’re just in it for the sex and should have your motives reviewed. Then along comes a child and now you are past the time when you should have purchased life insurance. Really! You’ve got little responsibility clouds all around you and you’re ignoring it?

My daughter had a baby girl at age 19 and because she couldn’t deal with all of the responsibilities of parenthood, I bought her a $250,000 term life insurance policy that will carry our granddaughter to adulthood. If I had made her buy it I guarantee it would have lapsed, but that policy is one of the keys to my granddaughters future. Even if my daughter was too young to get how important it was, it needed to happen and she at least went along with it knowing that it wouldn’t cost anything.

Just like I see too many young people in positions of responsibility without life insurance, for nearly all of them there are parents, grandparents or relatives who could buy that coverage. No guilt trips! Just a fact of life. What happens to your wife and child if you die prematurely? “Well, I’m a good driver and healthy. Nothing to worry about”. Not good enough. Did you know that one in six men who are 25 won’t make it to 65? You would bet on those odds all day long, but when it comes to protecting yourself from those same numbers you look the other way?

I’m right there with the parents and grandparents that think there are things our kids just need to learn on their own. Unfortunately, and this is why I think we should be involved, premature death doesn’t leave much of a chance to learn a lesson. Someday they’ll get it and then, if you want, you can turn ownership of the policy over to them. Or tell them to go buy their own and you’ll just leave yours in force as a gift to their family.

What about having life insurance on juvenile children? Now there’s a topic that will stop the conversation in a room full of parents. Most parents won’t buy life insurance on their youngster because they just don’t want to think about, even maybe jinx it. No kidding. some parents won’t insure their children because they would feel guilty if the child actually died.

But here’s one your one stop way out of that guilt trip. Buy it for their future! Guaranteed future insurability is a really cool thing. I have a client who is now 22. He came to me at age 19 and wanted $100,000 of life insurance. He had a disease diagnosed at age 15 that had left him a decline with most companies. We shopped it hard and begged and finally got a company to offer him a highly rated policy. Imagine this! $100,000 of 30 year term on a 19 year old given great health which is normal, would cost about $12 a month. He was approved at just under $100 a month and gladly accepted the policy after a flood of declines.

If his parents had purchased a $100,000 policy when he was young, or a $25,000 with a future purchase guarantee, or even a child rider, he would be paying $12 a month or around there. One of the juvenile policies I recommend often is the Illinois Mutual Childguard product. for a one time $300 payment the child is insured up to age 12 for $5000, 13 to 19 for $10,000 and 19 to 23 for $15,000. All for a single one time payment. At age 23 they can convert that policy to one of their own WITHOUT EVIDENCE OF INSURABILTIY for up to $100,000. Forget the insurance growing up. $300 is worth what happens at age 23!

Bottom line. Take responsibility for those who haven’t figured it out yet. Give it to them for their birthday or Christmas and someday they’ll figure out what it’s for and they’ll start paying for it themselves so they can start getting fun presents. Guarantee your child’s future insurability. There’s nothing squeamish about that. If you have questions or need help figuring this out for your children or grand children, give me a call or email me directly.