How many of us as parents, or parents to be, have dreams and aspirations for our kids? Yep, all of us. How many of us at some point have to deal with the unexpected with our kids? Again all hands should go up. How many of you have life insurance on your kids? Here is where you can insert the cricket chirping into the story.
I am often met with three common reactions when asking about insuring people’s children lives. Reaction 1 “I don’t want to think about that, that’s horrible!” Reaction 2 “If anything happens we would have financial help from family, friends and community.” Reaction 3 “They can buy their own when they become adults.”
I’d like to share with you my experience with Reaction 3.
In early spring of 2013 what started out as a possible sprained wrist in our 3 year-old son, Eli; ended with a diagnosis I didn’t even know was possible in kids. After two specialists, three casts on his right wrist and an MRI we were told our son had Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. What? He’s 3, kids don’t get arthritis (it actually turns out that about 300,000 kids in the US have some form of arthritis.) After the normal crying, thinking the worst and still not understanding how this could even be possible; we met with his Pediatric Rheumatologist and our journey began. It’s a long journey, so I will spare you all the details and get to the point. Eli has a form of arthritis that impacts only his right side and three of his main joints. He went through different medications to see what would work and several cortisone injections into his impacted wrist, knee and ankle. Eli will be 8 this year and I finally feel like we are beginning the journey into remission.
Still wondering what this has to do with life insurance?
Insuring kids with medical conditions can be difficult or sometimes impossible. I purchased a life insurance policy on Eli when he was 6 months old mainly so when he became an adult he would have something in place and it would be paid for. If I hadn’t purchased it then he would not be insurable until age 18; and even then there is no guarantee he would qualify. If he did qualify, the likelihood is that he would pay more than a “healthy” peer his age – potentially considerably more. As adults we purchase life insurance to protect our families. In Eli’s case he may not be able to do this.
The life insurance policy he has will provide him with a paid off death benefit after age 20. If nothing more he will have something in place for the remainder of his time. I never purchased the policy with the expectation that I would outlive him. I purchased it as a gift of protection for him and his family. I am glad that I did.
– Liz Alberts; Office Manager – State College /Personal Lines Customer Service Agent & Life Agent
If you are ready to talk life insurance, get in touch with me today at (814) 238-8895 or email me.