Ashley Dannelly As a parent, you have to make a lot of decisions for the well-being of your children. You want to make sure your kids — and your significant other — are taken care of, no matter what.
For many people, purchasing a life insurance policy is synonymous with caring for a family. The right life insurance policy can provide financial stability that helps to cover things like paying off a mortgage or diminishing shared debt, even with the loss of an income.
To choose the best life insurance policy for your children and your family, you need to consider your current lifestyle and the help your loved ones might need after you pass away.
What’s the best life insurance for families?
Finding the best life insurance for your family will ultimately require you to analyze your individual and collective needs.
For some families, each parent should have their own life insurance policy with a death benefit, but some families would function better with a joint policy, in which every member can have insurance under the same policy.
Some families think the best option is to purchase a term life insurance policy that covers them anywhere from 10 to 30 years, but others see permanent life insurance — like a whole life insurance policy — as a better option.
To find what works best for your family, you need to make some assessments. The cost of monthly premiums and the amount of coverage are two significant considerations as you make your decision.
What are the best insurance companies for families?
When it comes to life insurance policies for families, there are a few companies with options that work well for many people. Some of the most popular life insurance companies that offer family policies include:
- State Farm
- Northwestern Mutual
- MassMutual
- Prudential
- Transamerica
- Banner Life
- Bestow
- AIG
- Nationwide
Some of the companies listed above have policies that cover an entire family, while others offer creative options for permanent life policies that help parents of multiple children feel like their families will be safe and secure after they’re gone.
While most of the companies listed above claim to offer the most reasonable life insurance rates on the market, you need to do some research and get quotes from different companies to know for sure where you can find the most affordable policy.
What are the best life insurance policies for parents?
Finding the best life insurance policy as a parent means determining what your children will need if you pass away. This will depend on a number of factors, including:
- How many children you have
- The ages of your children
- How much debt you have as a family
- Whether you intend to send your children to college
- How much you can afford to pay for a monthly insurance premium
- Whether you have other savings plans for your children
If you are in your 20s or early 30s and just starting a family, a term life insurance plan may be a good idea since the premiums are inexpensive and the coverage during the term is fairly robust.
If you are in your 40s, purchasing a whole life insurance policy may be a better idea, especially since it carries a cash value component that could be helpful if you ever need to rely on it.
Parents whose employers provide group life insurance plans should take advantage of those whenever possible. These could be your main source of life insurance coverage or a supplemental policy for your family members.
What is the best life insurance for elderly parents over 80?
If you have elderly parents who are in their 70s or 80s and looking to purchase a life insurance policy, their best option might be some form of no exam life insurance.
While most life insurance policies require potential policyholders to take a medical exam and/or answer a series of health-related questions, some life insurance companies and policies do not make this a requirement.
Some of the best options for life insurance with no medical exam or health questions include:
- Guaranteed issue life insurance
- Graded benefit life insurance
- Funeral expense life insurance
A guaranteed issue life insurance policy offers coverage regardless of a person’s age or health status. This type of policy typically only offers coverage up to $30,000, and monthly rates can be expensive.
Similar to a guaranteed issue life insurance policy, a graded benefit life insurance policy offers smaller amounts of coverage with higher premiums. The difference with graded life is that the death benefit of the policy does not kick in until after the first two to three years of the policy.
One benefit of a graded benefit life insurance policy is that policyholders can purchase a whole life policy with its many benefits.
Funeral insurance for parents is a simple coverage that essentially allows people to set up a plan to pay for their funeral expenses ahead of time. While this type of policy does not offer any financial provision for loved ones, it does protect them from having to pay for end-of-life expenses.
How much is life insurance for parents and families?
Life insurance rates vary for a number of reasons. You will only know how much you have to pay for coverage after you shop around for coverage on your own.
The table below shows the difference in average monthly rates for a 10-year, $100,000 term life policy for a 30-year-old and a 65-year-old.
| Age | John Hancock, Male | John Hancock, Female | MassMutual, Male | MassMutual, Female | Nationwide, Male | Nationwide, Female |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | $9.64 | $8.78 | $9.23 | $8.53 | $11.75 | $11.48 |
| 65 | $55.74 | $37.74 | $61.68 | $42.64 | $76.63 | $56.25 |
Get Your Rates Quote Now |
||||||
As you can see, the monthly payments increase significantly as clients age. The next table shows the average monthly life insurance rates for a whole life policy based on a person’s age and policy amount.
| $25,000 | $50.000 | $100,000 | $250,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-Year-Old | $25.88 | $45.46 | $64.22 | $151.11 |
| 25-Year-Old | $27.96 | $49.61 | $75.25 | $178.68 |
| 30-Year-Old | $30.98 | $55.65 | $90.39 | $216.52 |
| 35-Year-Old | $35.22 | $64.14 | $110.60 | $267.05 |
| 40-Year-Old | $40.08 | $73.85 | $134.31 | $326.33 |
| 45-Year-Old | $48.15 | $89.99 | $164.41 | $401.58 |
| 50-Year-Old | $58.36 | $110.43 | $203.53 | $499.36 |
| 55-Year-Old | $72.34 | $138.38 | $255.50 | $629.30 |
| 60-Year-Old | $89.97 | $173.64 | $324.71 | $802.33 |
| 65-Year-Old | $115.08 | $223.87 | $416.64 | $1019.21 |
| 70-Year-Old | $155.99 | $305.68 | $546.97 | $1359.38 |
| 75-Year-Old | $219.48 | $406.13 | $738.11 | $1868.98 |
| 80-Year-Old | $285.86 | $565.42 | $1097.07 | $2801.93 |
| 85-Year-Old | $368.55 | $730.80 | $1455.30 | $3628.80 |
Get Your Rates Quote Now |
||||
Ultimately, your monthly life insurance rates will be determined by the type of policy you want, your age, the amount of coverage you want on your policy, and other factors.
Your best bet for finding a life insurance policy that works with your budget is to shop around for coverage from multiple companies and compare quotes to find who offers the policy you want at a price you can afford.
