Homeschool Life Insurance Guide
Your Mission
Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart. It’s an endeavor requiring commitment and sacrifice. You don’t mind; your kids are worth it.
So have you set up your life insurance to account for this?
If one of you dies unexpectedly, will the other be left with the resources to carry on the mission; to raise your children the way you see fit, instead of playing assistant to an increasingly corrupt educational system?
Protecting the Vision
As a homeschooling father myself, I’ve tailored my own coverage to ensure that if something happens to me, my wife won’t be worried about money until long after the kids are grown–if then. It’s a terrible eventuality, but one that I, as my family’s sole provider, have taken seriously.
So how do you design your coverage to fit the needs of your family situation?
The best way to handle this is to sit down with a life specialist who understands the homeschooling lifestyle–including how that lifestyle varies from one family to another.
That said, here are some of the primary considerations when determining what level and type of coverage is right for your family.
1. How old is your youngest?
If you’re nearing the end of your homeschooling journey, with your youngest child a few years from graduation, we’ll be accounting for the shorter time period we’re trying to protect. This can also reduce the death benefit you’ll need, which frees up money for other priorities.
2. What’s your yearly income?
The general rule of thumb is that you want 10-15 times your annual income for a death benefit. Since most homeschooling families have one income, you may need to adjust this rule to make sure that your spouse doesn’t have to take time away from raising your children to keep the bills paid.
3. What major liabilities do you have on the books?
The most common examples are mortgage, car loans, and credit card debt. You’ll want to make sure that you have enough death benefit to cover these liabilities and avoid your surviving family losing their home, their car, or having a surviving spouse’s credit trashed due to underfunded liabilities.
4. How important is higher education to you, and do you plan to help your children with college funding?
If you’re no longer around when they graduate, they’ll be on their own when it comes to paying for the next step in life–be it college, trade school, or even starting their own business! If you feel strongly about helping financially with this stage in life, consider increasing your death benefit to provide financially when the time comes.
5. After the kids are grown, what liabilities will likely remain?
Retirement may seem like an eternity away as you handle the day to day of your present reality, but as children mature and move on to build lives for themselves your liabilities, needs, and resources will change. By anticipating those changes now we can avoid unnecessary expense and prepare for those golden years of watching the kids build their own futures with the tools that you gave them!
So What Now?
If you currently have no life coverage (or only have coverage through work), request an assessment right now.
If you already have life insurance but you haven’t had the policy and plan reviewed within the past few years, schedule an assessment for a review. Life insurance works best when you check in every few years, making adjustments when necessary due changes in life circumstances to avoid unnecessary risk or excess premium payments!