Stay-At-Home Parents and Life Insurance

Life insurance is an essential part of providing for your spouse and children in the event of your unexpected death. Not only can funeral costs place a burden on the family finances, but additional money is usually needed to get through day-to-day life, cover bills and help accommodate large expenses such as college tuition. When it comes to deciding on a life insurance policy, in most cases, the amount of the policy will be based on the wage earners income to ensure that expenses can still be covered if they pass away. So what about stay-at-home spouses?

Often families forget to take out life insurance policies on stay-at-home parents, due to the fact that at least on paper, they are not bringing in the money necessary to cover the bills, but what many people fail to realize is the financial contribution that stay-at-home parents actually make to the household.

The Financial Contribution of a Stay-At-Home Parent

While most will agree that being a stay-at-home parent is often one of the toughest jobs in the world, many fail to actually put a monetary value on how they contribute to the household. If the stay-at-home spouse was to suddenly pass away and all of the duties that they usually performed had to be outsourced, the annual total could be as high as six figures. Listed below are just some of the expenses that a stay-at-home parent provides for a family and how much it would cost if you had to hire others to complete these tasks.

Childcare

The most significant expense that would need to be replaced in the event of a stay-at-home parent's death is child care. According to the 2017 Parents and High Cost of Childcare Report, researched by Childcare Aware of America, the report shows that Americans average 7 to 12 percent of the average median salary in America providing the cost of child care for their children. This can vary from state to state with some states running higher than 12%. On average, a household will spend an estimated average of $900 per month or $11,000 per year, per child on childcare.1 It is this expense alone that often causes one parent to decide to stay at home in the first place.

Household Chores

Cooking and cleaning are the primary functions in the household that one might have to outsource in the event of a stay-at-home parent's passing. House cleaning rates can run an average of $9.00 to $15.00 per hour with cooking duties adding on to that cost. Additionally if instead of hiring out a cooking service you were to outsource grocery shopping, meal prep, or food delivery services you can expect an added expense for that as well.

Miscellaneous Duties

Stay-at-home parents are often the bookkeepers, repair people, gardeners, and personal assistants that help maintain the household. While these duties could fall to the remaining parent, it would be difficult to fit in these additional hours while still providing for the family through a traditional job and taking care of children after work hours. Outsourcing these tasks can add hundreds of dollars to your monthly budget.

Buying a Life Insurance Policy for a Stay-At-Home Parent

Purchasing a life insurance policy for your stay-at-home spouse can be a little more complicated as there is no income level to set the amount by and you will need to create an estimate of the duties your stay-at-home spouse performs and what it would cost to have those tasks replaced by a third party to help determine what the spouse's income actually would amount to.

Additionally, you will want to follow the same rule of thumb that you would with a wage earner by determining what five times the value of their income would be to help establish the amount of life insurance that should be carried for them. If you have multiple or really young children, you will want to be sure to include enough to cover them for child care up through school age.

Don't wait until it's too late to realize how much your stay-at-home spouse contributes financially. Protect yourself and your children by protecting them with a stay-at-home parent life insurance policy to ensure your family's future in the event of your spouse's death.

https://usa.childcareaware.org

This content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information, and provided by ANCHORY LLC. It may not be used for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.

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