Life Insurance for the Stay-at-Home Parent

Have you ever wondered what a stay-at-home parent is worth financially?  I was recently reading this article from InsWeb and it really struck a chord with me.

According to Salary.com, the average stay-at-home mom is worth a yearly salary of $113,568!  As a stay-at-home dad, I like to think that I’m worth that, as well.  Looking at that number, though, it really makes you think and realize how much we undervalue stay-at-home parents.  Think less about how much that parent earns and more about how much they save and you’ll get a great idea of what I’m talking about.  Just think about it.  If that mom or dad has to start working, they would have to make six figures just so that they could maintain the lifestyle that they currently enjoy.

So what happens when tragedy strikes?  Many families have plenty of life insurance on the wage earner, but what if the stay-at-home parent is lost?  It’s not like those duties just go away.  Who’s going to watch the kids?  Who’s going to cook, clean, drive carpool, etc.?  How is the wage earner supposed to pay for all of that?

How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?

Determining your life insurance need isn’t as hard as you might think.  You can find sources online to accurately determine the salary that your stay-at-home services are worth.  Multiply that by the number of years until your youngest child turns 18.  Maybe you can just plan on replacing your spouse’s income until that time so that your spouse can stay at home.  After that, it can start becoming a little more complicated.  Do you want to pay off the house?  Pay for college?  Are you looking for whole life or term life insurance?  Depending upon your budget, you could have any number of options.  Thankfully, there are life insurance calculators available.

After you have determined your insurance need, you’ll have to contact a life insurance professional for your official quote and to describe your options.  Of course, whenever you think about life insurance, you hope that you will never need it, but, as I’ve learned with so many other things, sometimes it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Are you a stay-at-home parent?  Do you have life insurance to help our your spouse should something happen to you?  Leave us a comment and let us know.