When it comes to parenting, your to-do list can seem never-ending, from signing up for school activities, to projects around the house, to planning for the future. It seems as soon as you check something off, a few more to-dos jump right on the list.
If you’re a single parent, that list may be even longer—and more complex—especially if you are your children’s “one and only.” And you could be feeling the pressure: Three quarters say they felt overwhelmed with becoming a single parent, and more than a quarter (27%) admit being very overwhelmed, according to Life Happens’ new survey, “Single Parents and the Financial Future.”
What’s more, single parents say they’d need a minimum of $332,705 in savings to feel at ease about raising their child. In fact, making sure their kids will be OK financially is something that the average single parent thinks about five times a day on average.
However, four in 10 single parents admit that they didn’t start planning for their child’s financial future until their kids were 4 to 6 years old—or even later. Only 10% started before their child was born, according to the data.
Don’t Leave It to Chance
Does any of this sound like you? If so, have you asked yourself: “What would happen if I were no longer in the picture? Where would the money come from to take care of my children?”
More than a quarter of single parents surveyed (28%) say they’d let others raise money on a crowdfunding site to provide for their children. Only half say they’ve purchased life insurance to protect their children’s financial future if someone else had to take care of them.
Given that life insurance is an affordable solution, why aren’t more single parents considering it? The truth is that most people overestimate the cost of life insurance by three times or more (2023 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens and LIMRA). So, it does stand to reason that if people think it would be out of their price range, they wouldn’t even consider it.
But let’s put it into perspective: A healthy 30-year-old can get a 20-year $250,000 level term life insurance policy for around $200 a year. That works out to about $4 a week. And if something were to happen to you, that $250,000 would go to ensuring your child’s future would be everything you dreamed it would be.
If you need any inspiration (or motivation), watch Summer’s story here. She was a young single mom who was, tragically, hit by a car and killed when she was just 22. Her son, Nathan, was just nine months old. When she was pregnant, she put a life insurance policy in place for just $12 a month that ensured Nathan’s future would be bright no matter what happened.
Don’t let being unsure of how much or what kind of life insurance to buy stop you from getting coverage. To start, you can do a quick calculation with our Life Insurance Needs Calculator to get a general idea of how much you may need. And if you want help choosing the right kind of policy that fits your budget, you can talk with an insurance professional at no cost or obligation. If you don’t have someone to work with, you can use Life Happens’ Agent Locator here.