Single Moms: The Necessity of Life Insurance
UPDATE: Two months ago I wrote an article about a dear friend of mine who had been in a terrible car accident. I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers. He has come a long way in a short time. The road to recovery will be long, but since he has made great strides these two months, I am optimistic that he will recover most of his functioning. This has made me think though - should I have supplemental insurance - in case I were in an accident and left unable to work? If that happened - how would I provide for my daughter? Insurance - accidental or life - isn't something that many single moms give a lot of thought. With this in mind, I am pleased to have guest writer this month to provide us with some important information on this topic.
Single Moms: The Necessity of Life Insurance
As a single mom, your child depends on you for the world. You're the primary caregiver, breadwinner and so much more. But what if tragedy struck and you were no longer around for your child? The child's other parent or designated guardian might be able to care for your child, but would that person have the financial means to provide the kind of life you always hoped your child would have? For many single moms, the answer to that question probably depends on how much life insurance they have. When someone's life is cut short, proceeds from their life insurance are typically the primary source of income for surviving family members. For single parents, life insurance proceeds may be the sole means of financial support for their children. That is, of course, if the single parent has life insurance.
Remarkably, nearly four in ten single parents have no life insurance coverage of any kind. Of those who have coverage, nearly two in three consider their coverage inadequate. And they should. The typical two-parent household has $250,000 in life insurance coverage, compared to just $60,000 for their single-parent counterparts. While $60,000 still may sound like a lot of money, it costs a lot more than that to raise a child today. According to the 2001 USDA annual "Expenditures on Children by Families" report, it costs an average of $165,000 to provide a child with the necessities of daily living from birth to age 18. If a college education is in your plans for your child, consider that a year at a public college will cost an average of $28,000 by 2010.
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