The role of the stay-at-home parent is normally dismissed,
simply because he or she receives no income or pay slip. However, if that
parent is unable to function, for example, after becoming disabled, the
household will then need to cover the costs of what that parent covered, whether
day care, cleaning, cooking, and driving children to school. In addition, there
will be the cost of looking after him- or herself. This may be unaffordable to
the other parent.
It is not solely in the case of disability that life
insurance can offer some relief. Should death occur, or parents experience
critical illness or trauma, this may mean that they have to have help with
their everyday activities. As such, life insurance becomes part of financial
planning.
The Salvation
Army recently released a study indicating that there was a 93.3% rise in carers
requesting their services ((http://www.medianet.com.au/releases/145748/).
Furthermore, MoneySmart calculated that the average credit card debt in
Australia is around $4200
(https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/borrowing-and-credit/credit-cards/credit-card-debt-clock).
It is therefore understandable that a
lump sum would come in handy to cover this type of debt, aside from paying for
medical bills and funeral costs.
How to work
out the value of a stay-at-home parent
To decide how much cover is needed, use an online life-insurance
calculator. For instance, if you are contemplating a 20-year policy, with a
lump sum payout of $500 000, a 35-year-old woman in good health will pay around
$19 each month.
What to look
out for when evaluating life insurance
With various life insurance policies available, by using
a comparison website such as savvy.com.au, you can easily filter through the
maze to find a product that will work for you and your budget.
One aspect to take note of with term life policies, for
instance, is level premiums. Level premiums imply that monthly costs will be
pegged, and you can stay within your budget.
Besides spending a fixed amount monthly, make sure
it’s spent wisely. Your life insurance cover should be relevant to your
circumstances. If it includes malaria cover, for instance, and you live in Southern
Australia, this will be unnecessary expense. What could be relevant is to add
your children to the policy − some companies allow this.

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