There are many misconceptions about the decision to purchase a life insurance product for a child, but the three listed below are the ones we hear frequently.

3. If my child passed, the funeral expenses would be manageable.

Funeral and burial expenses can cost around $10,000 and that doesn’t include any medical costs from associated illness, injury or critical care preceding the death. When dealing with the extreme grief associated with the loss of a child, financial worries only create additional strain. Time away from work and counseling can be additional factors.

2. My children can buy life insurance later.

Unfortunately, there are times when health issues interfere with an individual’s ability to buy life insurance. When parents purchase life insurance for their children, they’re helping secure a valuable financial product for their children’s future. They may even be able to add an insurability protection rider* to the product to help insure their children the ability to purchase additional life insurance in the future. When the children grow up, they could be very thankful for the decision you made.

Life insurance is not just about affordability for you at that time. It’s also about affordability in the future. Life insurance typically gets more expensive each year a person ages. Purchasing it early is a wise gift for your child’s financial future.

Plus, by putting money into an insurance certificate, the child can learn from the parents’ example of careful money management. Parents can even maintain ownership of the certificate until they’re ready for their child to take ownership. (Be sure to consider tax implications when going this route.)

1. If you purchase life insurance for children, you’re betting on their lives; it’s bad luck.

This is probably the biggest misconception we hear, but the purchase of life insurance has no correlation with luck or a person’s likelihood to pass early. There is no statistical evidence to prove any correlation.

Purchasing life insurance for your child is not about profiting on the death of a child but about being prepared in the event of a tragedy.

This is a quick list of only three misconceptions about the purchase of life insurance for children.

The decision to purchase life insurance can easily be put off for days, weeks and even years, but why wait? Take the first step and contact an agent so that you can learn more about what type of coverage is available for your child.

And when you’re considering life insurance for your child, be sure to think about yourself again. Do you have all the coverage you need? Your agent is happy to help you make that determination.

*Insurability Protection Rider – While an insurability protection rider is in force, the ability for a new life insurance certificate to be purchased on each option date is guaranteed. It must be elected upon initial certificate application.