As Fabric employees, we spend our days talking about life insurance. And some nights. Lots of us are parents, which means we spend the rest of our time kissing boo-boos and trying to convince our kids to go back to bed.
We’ve had to make our own decisions about how to protect our families, too. Even if you’re young and healthy, unexpected emergencies can happen, and it can be comforting to have life insurance coverage in place. There’s lots that parents should know about life insurance, and each situation is unique, as are our life insurance choices—but there are plenty of commonalities to learn from.
That’s why we gathered stories from our team members about how they went about getting life insurance, and the kinds of life insurance they chose and why. Consider this your dose of voyeurism for the day.
“My Husband Can Pay Off Our Mortgage and Have Some Extra”
Name: Kaycie
Role: Insurance Operations and Support
Relationship status: Married
Children: A 2-and-a-half-year-old son
Term or whole life insurance? I chose a term life insurance policy because it was a lower-cost way to protect my husband and child compared to whole life insurance.
Term length: 30 years, which means that if I pass away during the time period when my policy is active, my loved ones would receive money to help them get by.
Coverage amount: The coverage amount is 5x my salary, or in other words, enough for my husband to pay off our mortgage while setting some extra funds aside to help pay for childcare, school tuition or whatever else.
Why did you choose this policy? I opted for a 30-year term policy because I purchased it as we began to plan our family and I wanted something that would cover all of the years when we’d be supporting minors. I also liked the fact that the term won’t be up until I’m 60 and that will hopefully be at the tail end of my working years.
“We Timed Our Policy to Our Son’s Age”
Name: Steven
Role: Technology
Relationship status: Married
Children: A soon-to-be 7-year-old
Term or whole life insurance? Term
Term length: 20-year term life insurance
Coverage amount: We did this strictly based on our income replacement calculations, so rather than calculating various mortgage or secondary school concerns, we just decided on a multiple of our income.
Why did you choose this policy? We bought this policy when our son was two, and we were pretty sure he’d be our only kiddo. So that led us to choose a 20-year term to cover him until he’s out of high school.
“I Want to Cover the Expense of the Kids”
Name: Saadiq
Role: Growth Product
Relationship status: Married
Children: A 4-year-old and a 7-year-old
Term or whole life insurance? Term
Term length: 20 years
Coverage amount: I chose an amount that would allow my wife (beneficiary) to pay for the kids’ school and pay off our mortgage in the event that something happened.
Why did you choose this policy? Kids are expensive. We got this policy around five years ago, to ensure that there will be enough money to pay for what our kids need.
“I Want Them to Have Freedom”
Name: Allison
Role: Organic Acquisition
Relationship status: Married
Children: A 3-year-old and a not-quite-1-year-old
Term or whole life insurance? Term
Term length: 20 years
Coverage amount: I have roughly 7x my salary in coverage.
Why did you choose this policy? I chose term because it’s cheaper than whole life, allowing me to invest the rest and probably get better returns, fewer fees and more transparency. I want my family to have options. What if they needed to move to a more expensive place? What if my spouse needed or wanted to take time off of work? I don’t want them to feel trapped.
“I’m Thinking About My Kids’ Education”
Name: Adam
Role: CEO
Relationship status: Married
Children: Two young kids
Term or whole life insurance? Term
Term length: 20 years
Coverage amount: I sought enough to cover housing, monthly bills and our two kids’ education.
Why did you choose this policy? In addition to this insurance my family continues to save, so the idea is that we’d have built up a nest egg by the end of the 20-year term. By then, we should have fewer financial obligations and enough saved up to make ends meet, even if something happened to one of us.
“I’m Trying to Decide What’s Right for My Family”
Name: Daria
Role: Marketing
Relationship status: Married
Children: A 4-year-old and a 1-year-old
Why are you thinking about life insurance? I admit that I probably should’ve done this sooner, but I guess I’m like many of our customers in that way—the busy day-to-day just got in the way. Now that I work at Fabric, I’ve committed to finding a policy that will protect my family if something were to happen to me. And I also will make sure that my husband also gets one as well.
What kinds of things do you want this insurance to cover? I would like to make sure that the cost of living is covered and I want to make sure that my husband doesn’t have to think twice about buying food, clothes, books and anything else he and our daughters need. I’d also like to contribute toward our kids’ college education so that doesn’t become a strain.
So, all these factors will contribute to the coverage amount I choose.
How long do you need coverage? I’d like to have this sense of security until my youngest child is around age 25 or 26. By then, I’d hope that she and her sister are financially independent, and my husband should be OK since he won’t have so many financial obligations anymore. Since my younger daughter is a year old, that means I’d be looking for a 25-year term.
Want more real stories? We break down three families’ insurance decisions, even spilling the dollar amounts they chose.
Fabric exists to help young families master their money. Our articles abide by strict editorial standards.
Information provided is general and educational in nature, is not financial advice, and all products or services discussed may not be offered by Fabric by Gerber Life (“the Company”). The information is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, legal or tax advice. The Company does not provide legal or tax advice. Consult an attorney or tax advisor regarding your specific legal or tax situation. Laws of a specific state or laws relevant to a particular situation may affect the applicability, accuracy, or completeness of this information. Federal and state laws and regulations are complex and are subject to change. The Company makes no warranties with regard to the information or results obtained by its use. The Company disclaims any liability arising out of your use of, or reliance on, the information. The views and opinions of third-party content providers are solely those of the author and not Fabric by Gerber Life.
