Insure That Young Adult Before You Lose The Chance.

There are a few things that, if we didn’t learn it from our own lives, we can count on to be true about our children.

1. If they take off in the wrong direction early (drinking, drugs, accidental single parenthood), and aren’t quick to turn around, they are likely to hold that course far longer than we would like.

2. Now more than ever, we as parents ought to proactively carry life insurance on children on the wrong road because we will be used and it will cost us plenty of money and if, God forbid, they don’t get back on track at least our efforts to help them won’t be a financial train wreck.

I can hear plenty of parents criticizing those notions, but as I work hard to raise my grandchild, while occasionally being sucked into trying to help an addicted daughter who never has seen the turn around lane. I think my purchase made when my granddaughter was born was a prudent thing to do. I hope we never have to use that term policy, but let me share with you why earlier is better.

I work almost exclusively in impaired risk life insurance, from hiv positive to people who have been through addiction treatment of one form or another. I was able to insure my daughter (for the sake of my granddaughter) when the only underwriting strike against her was that she smoked. It cost me $30 a month for a $250,000 term life insurance policy. Could have been $12 if she hadn’t taken up smoking. Without sharing specifics, even with my specialty being hard to place life insurance cases, with my daughter’s lifestyle and bad choices she is completely uninsurable at a reasonable cost now. I would no longer be able to get traditional life insurance and whether she woke up and decided she needed it, or if I had waited a few years longer, all that would have been available would be guaranteed issue life insurance.

Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting that we all take out a quarter of a million dollars worth of life insurance on our children. Most of us can handle the cost of a funeral if somethings happens, or we can carry a smaller final expense policy. But when you’re suddenly raising a child or helping a child find the way out of the woods, it can eat into everything we worked for in a hurry. I am in no way suggesting making a profit from a child who goes the wrong way, but being made whole again if the worst happens or having the money to raise a grandchild and give that grandchild a gift a parent never was able to provide is clear thinking.

Bottom line. I pray daily for my daughter’s health and safety and I pray with all my heart that her and our grandchild can be reunited in a healthy environment. And I truly hope that the insurance I purchased and keep in force ends up being just that, insurance against something that never happens. If you have questions, please call or email me directly. My name is Ed Hinerman. Let’s talk.