Many married couples have only one working spouse, be it through personal choice, job climate hardship, disability or other reasons. When the subject of life insurance comes up for these couples, it often only pertains to securing the family’s future should the working spouse pass. While replacing that spouse’s income is certainly very important in those situations, the fact of the matter is that getting a life insurance policy for the unemployed spouse can also be a very smart move. Let’s discuss. Continue reading to learn about other types of insurance such as Life Insurance for 50 year olds.
Many people are shocked when they get the bill for a family member’s funeral and burial. In today’s times, these processes can cost upwards of $10,000! This only adds to the stress of the already grief stricken surviving spouse, but this added burden can be avoided— at the very least, a small life insurance policy should be taken out on the non-working spouse for these purposes.
Many people falsely assume that only the loss of a working spouse will affect a family’s quality of life. Though a non-working spouse obviously brings in no earned income, they often take up many other valuable responsibilities like maintaining the house and caring daily for the couple’s children. Should that spouse pass away while children are still dependent, the working spouse must then make various adjustments in their life to try and make up for it. This could be anything from having to hire a nanny or daycare center to quitting their day job and finding other employment that allows them to spend more time taking up the responsibilities of their deceased spouse. This obviously can create financial strain on the family, and it may be a reason for taking out a more substantial life insurance policy on both spouses while they are still living.
Even unemployed people can accumulate debt, and many even have debt from before they were married and not working. In modern times college student loans can take decades to pay off, and it is not uncommon for people who die early to leave behind a mountain of debt. While the working spouse may have been helping their non-working spouse with payments, it is possible that the plan was for the non-working spouse to go back to work at some point. Life insurance payouts can take care of this rather than transferring this debt of the deceased onto the shoulders of the living.
The coverage amount of the insurance policy will differ from couple to couple. The unemployed spouse’s debts must be added up along with the estimated financial strain their loss could mean for the family’s everyday life. Consider the non-working spouse’s responsibilities as actual services that may need to be paid for once they are gone— childcare, maid service, public transportation/taxi service, food preparation costs, even counseling services. Then add in the cost of a proper funeral and burial.
The amount of the death benefit on the unemployed spouse is still unlikely to be as much as the one on the working spouse, but it should still be substantial enough to prevent financial burden. And of course, the exact amount of insurance coverage and its rates will depend largely on factors like the unemployed spouse’s health, gender and history of tobacco use, among other things.
Let's take a look at an example of a 40 Year old Female applying for 20 year $250,000 at the best rates. What would a policy cost?
As you can see, term life insurance for an unemployed spouse, or stay at home mom can be inexpensive.