College is an enormous expense, particularly if you have more than one child who will be attending. But what will happen to those educations in the event that you should die before or during the process?
Even if you have saved money for your kid’s college educations there are always additional expenses. That can include travel between campus and home, as well as providing for living expenses beyond room and board. Do you have enough in savings to cover all of the expenses associated with college in the event of your death?
If not, you should give serious consideration to using term life insurance for your kid’s college educations. Your family will be under an incredible amount of stress in the event of your death, but it’s entirely possible that they will no longer be in a position to provide for college in your absence.
When should you consider having term life insurance for your kid’s college educations?
There Aren’t Sufficient Assets to Cover College in the Event of Your Death
In truth, very few people are able to accumulate enough money in order to cover all of the costs of putting one child through college. And obviously the task is commensurately more difficult if you have several children.
You may have various strategies to cover any college related expenses that won’t be provided out of savings. But if you aren’t around by the time your kids get into college, it’s unlikely that those strategies will ever be used.
If you don’t have enough money saved up to cover the full cost of your kid’s college educations, you may want to have a term life insurance policy specifically for that purpose. The policy can cover whatever expenses that may be necessary if you are not around to help pay for them.
This can be even more important if at least one child has aspirations of getting a professional degree, that would involve law school, medical school, or some other advanced degree program. The long-term nature of such an education could necessitate having a “Plan B”, just in case you aren’t around to help.
If You’re an Older Parent
If you are an older parent, who has had one or more children past the age of 40, this may be a strong reason to have a dedicated term life insurance policy for college. There are many advantages to having children later in life – greater financial stability being one. But there is also an increased chance that you will not live long enough to see your kids reach adulthood.
A term life insurance policy for the purpose of providing for your kids college educations could help to ease everyone’s concerns. It will represent an opportunity for you to be certain that your kids will be able to complete their educations, even if you are not around to contribute.
If You Have a Family History of Chronic Illness
It’s unfortunate but some families have a clear history of developing chronic illnesses, and even some that lead to reduced longevity. It could be heart disease, cancer or any one of a number of illnesses that typically lead to an early death.
If you have this history in your own family lineage, you want to have term life insurance specifically to provide for your children’s college educations. Such a policy will guarantee that your kids will be able to get the educations that they want and need, even if you die early.
As a Way to Payoff Your Kid’s Student Loan Debts
Student loan debt has turned into a serious national crisis. If you don’t have sufficient money saved for your kids to complete their college educations, they will almost certainly have to make up the difference using student loans.
Many people today are carrying large student loans debts into their 30s and 40s. It’s obvious to see how this can have a major negative impact not only on their lifestyles, but often on their ability to survive at all. Student loan debts are high priority debts, and cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. And the large amounts of money owed make it very difficult to pay them off early.
For this reason, even if it is likely that you will be around to help provide for your children’s college educations, you may want to have a dedicated term life insurance policy that they can use to pay off their student loan debts upon your death. It can be your last, best contribution to their futures.
Why Term Life Insurance Works so Well to Cover College Expenses
You probably already have life insurance to provide for your family’s basic needs in the event of your death. This can include money to cover your final expenses, to pay off any debts including the mortgage on the family home, and also to provide for living expenses, at least for a few years.
But a college education is a major expense all by itself. It is unlikely that your family will be able to complete everyone’s educations if you are not around. This is why having a life insurance policy dedicated specifically to college expenses is such an intelligent strategy.
Term life insurance works especially well in this capacity. It’s less expensive than other forms of life insurance, which means that you can afford more coverage. But because it is limited in duration, it can fit nicely within your family’s education requirements.
For example, let’s say that you have children who are ages 12 and 10. A life insurance policy that runs for 15 years will likely completely cover the time that they are in college. There is no need to have a permanent life insurance policy for this purpose, since the obligation will end at an approximate time in the future. That will save you a tremendous amount of money compared to a permanent life insurance policy, such as whole life. And once your kids complete their educations, you can cancel the policy.
If you have children, and you are at all concerned about enabling them to complete their educations in the event of your death, seriously consider adding a term life policy to your financial portfolio. We’re here to help you do that, even if you just want to call and ask a few questions. We promise we’ll help you find the largest life insurance possible, at the lowest possible cost.
