To be 42 with kids no life ins?

[ididabigfatsmelly]

As above in title

just asked my sister her thoughts and she said well I don’t work so does it matter? Which got me thinking as I’m clueless.. I don’t work no, my husband does as I’m home with kids as no childcare..

If your husband could afford to pay for child care with his salary/the money he’d save by not spending on you then no need for life insurance

But maybe when he doesn’t need to buy food clothes and holidays for a wife then the spare money can cover childcare

The amount of money "saved" on food, clothes etc by no longer having a wife will come nowhere near the additional costs for childcare, not to mention the impact on your husband's work because every doctor appointment, parents' evening, inset day etc etc becomes his responsibility. If your holidays are self-catering cottages, camping or the like you will save very little as you are paying the same amount for rental anyway.

I know you asked about insurance for yourself but you both absolutely should have it in place, given that you say your DH is self-employed so will have no company scheme to fall back on. How would you manage to live if your husband died or became unable to work? You need to think about what impact that would have on your family.

Well there you go, if you have to pay for those then that’s a good reason to get some insurance.

if your husband couldn’t manage financially if you died then yes you need it. We have two life insurance policies each - one that decreases as the mortgage goes down and one that is a lump sum. We also have critical illness cover as well. It’s expensive but we couldn’t survive on one income without significantly uprooting the children (and who would want to do that if they’re grieving?)

You can give your kids the same amount each year so the LI doesn’t make them have to pay any extra IHT. £6k a year I believe you can give them.

You’ve got to take into account that the surviving partner may not be fit to work immediately- and the dad in this scenario is self employed.

Id say all mothers need to make a will, and tbh with the likely scenario in mind that in the event of their death that their male partner will be dating again within a year, and that their children’s interests will soon be competing with the interests of his new partner and her children.

I think the point of life cover is to minimise financial loss / hardship in the event of death.

So in your situation, although you aren't working and contributing to your family financially, should you die your husband would need to pay someone to do most, if not all that you do for your family especially childcare and cleaning (because while your children are young it would be better to have a cleaner than for him to spend all his free time cleaning.)

Similarly, your husband's life should be covered to replace his income and maybe the additional costs of "services" he carries out but you would have to pay for such as DIY, gardening etc.

And for both of you, funeral costs

do you mean me? Dh has always had it!

To pick up the children from school if he’s at the office and ensure the children are taken care of while he’s still at work and that the house is clean so he doesn’t have to bother. Essentially to perform the logistical part of the role OP is doing now.

What’s unreasonable about that?

I believe I’m right in saying that life insurance doesn’t attract IHT until the beneficiary dies and it is taxed as part of their estate.

One of my friends’ husbands died leaving her with young children. He had no life insurance and she did struggle financially despite always having worked in a professional role.

We had to have life insurance for our mortgage back in the early 90s and pre children. We kept it even after paying off the mortgage until our children were fully independent and not living at home. Mine was to cover childcare if I died whereas my husbands would have provided a large lump sum which we could have used to live.

I have two children, 8 and 5 and both myself and husband have life insurance (we are 32 and have had about 10 years). Should the worse happen I want them to have some money to help them when I’m no longer here to help them. They’d get the house, any money we have plus a lump sum. I guess it’s making sure they’re looked after.

It's been a bit eye opening how little a SAHP is valued by some posters. If you have to pay someone to do what they do, it would cost 10,000's. If you have to do it all yourself as a single parent (while grieving), that would be pretty tough.

Yes, single parents have to ...and are significantly more at risk of poverty than two-parent households, trying to manage a career alongside sole care of young children.

I think you have quoted me in error as my quote had nothing to do with a partner dying. I'm sorry to hear about your friend.

Oh thought you meant lie ins!

I was SAHM. I had massive life insurance so if I died DH would have the choice of top notch childcare or stopping work or going part time.