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What is juvenile life insurance?

The idea of juvenile life insurance can be confusing for some. Why would you insure the life of a perfectly healthy child? Juvenile life insurance does insure against the loss of a child, but thankfully this occurrence is extremely rare.

Instead, juvenile life insurance is more about helping build a strong financial foundation for your child. Juvenile life insurance is typically permanent life insurance, which means your child will have the coverage for life and the policy can build cash value.

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As a parent, you want a solid financial foundation for your child. You try to teach your child important financial lessons about saving and spending, you set up a savings account in his/her name, and you're setting money aside for college in a 529 plan. Despite ticking all these boxes, you may wonder what else you can be doing to help prepare your child for financial stability.

Juvenile life insurance is another tool for you to consider.

What is juvenile life insurance?

The idea of juvenile life insurance can be confusing for some. Why would you insure the life of a perfectly healthy child? Juvenile life insurance does insure against the loss of a child, but thankfully this occurrence is extremely rare.

Instead, juvenile life insurance is more about helping build a strong financial foundation for your child. Juvenile life insurance is typically permanent life insurance, which means your child will have the coverage for life and the policy can build cash value.

Ready to learn more about juvenile life insurance?

Check out these four advantages to purchasing juvenile life insurance:

1. Guarantee future insurability

Did you know that if your child develops certain conditions, they may be denied life insurance coverage later in life? In fact, about one-in-two Americans have a condition that would deny them coverage. ¹ When you purchase juvenile life insurance, you can guard a child from future uninsurability due to health issues like asthma, cancer or diabetes. Even if your child develops one of these conditions as an adult, they will already have the financial protection and peace of mind of life insurance.

2. Lock in childhood rates for life

When it comes to life insurance, typically the older you are when you purchase, the higher your premiums will be. When you purchase juvenile life insurance for your child, the policy will keep the same premium for your child's entire life. This helps make the premiums much more affordable for your child as he/she ages.

3. Build cash value

As mentioned earlier, juvenile life insurance is permanent life insurance, which features the ability to build cash value over the life of the policy. Once the policy accumulates a sizeable cash value, loans can be taken from the policy for any purpose-to help fund college, pay off debt or supplement your child's retirement income many years down the road. Oftentimes, cash value loans will feature lower interest rates than what you'd get from a bank or credit card, which may give your child a financial leg up as an adult.

4. Give an everlasting gift

We know that juvenile life insurance isn't at the top of your child's wish list, and it may not be a gift that they appreciate right now. But someday your adult child will appreciate the financial protection and peace of mind of his/her permanent life insurance policy. And many, many, many years down the road, the payout from the policy may help leave a lasting financial legacy for your child's children and grandchildren-talk about making a positive financial impact for generations to come!

How do I get started?

The first step in purchasing juvenile life insurance for your child is to complete an application on his/her behalf. If the child is a minor, the policy will be owned by you (or the purchasing adult) until your child reaches the age of majority. A Bankers Life agent is ready to help you get the ball rolling. Contact us here to get paired with a local Bankers Life agent!

¹ The Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight, At Risk: Pre-Existing Conditions Could Affect 1 in 2 Americas, Accessed in 2019

Policies underwritten by Bankers Life and Casualty Company, home office Chicago, IL. Subject to state availability

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4 Reasons To Consider Juvenile Life Insurance - Bankers Life Blog

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As a parent, you want a solid financial foundation for your child. You try to teach your child important financial lessons about saving and spending, you set up a savings account in his/her name, and you're setting money aside for college in a 529 plan.

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Looking for a juvenile life insurance policy and have questions?

Great, you came to the right place.

In this article, you'll see prices, how these plan work, the best companies and more.

What's Covered In This Article

How Does A Juvenile Life Insurance Policy Work?

A juvenile life insurance policy is normally a whole life insurance plan that's $10,000-$50,000 in coverage. It features a savings account component called " cash value " that increases every time you make a payment. The cash value can be used for future college expenses.

The main thing you must understand about a whole life policy is that it's very straightforward.

Here are the details you should familiarize yourself with:

Guaranteed lifetime coverage that will not expire

Rates will not increase over time

Coverage is guaranteed to remain level and not decrease

Cash value savings component builds up that you can borrow from

All life insurance plans simply result in a tax-free check when the insured (which would the children int his case) regardless of the type or which insurance company you buy from.

So, if your juvenile child were insured and did unfortunately pass away, the insurance company would pay out a tax-free check equal to whatever amount of coverage you purchased.

There are no restrictions whatsoever how that money is used.

Guaranteed option to buy coverage later in life

One of the main reasons to even buy life insurance on a juvenile is to guarantee their insurability later in life.

All juvenile whole life insurance plans come with the guarantee that later in life the child can purchase additional coverage regardless of their lifestyle or health.

Simply put, if the want additional coverage later in life they cannot be denied.

Typically, juvenile life insurance companies allow the insured children to buy more coverage later in life based off certain life benchmarks. For example, it could be when they turn 25, 30, 35 or when they buy a home or have a baby.

It's certainly true that young to middle aged adults are unable to qualify for life insurance. That said, some people do develop serious health issues that make them uninsurable.

Juvenile Whole Life Insurance Rates

Juvenile life insurance premiums tend be $10-$15 per month with $20,000 being the most common amount of coverage bought. The exact price you pay will be governed by the amount of coverage purchased, gender, state you live in and the juvenile's health.
The sample rates shown are unisex.
Who Are The Best Life Insurance Companies For Juveniles?

These juvenile life companies have the best policies on the market. They stand out in terms of price, application processes and financial history.

Top 10 Best Juvenile Life Insurance Companies In The USA

Below you will see a thorough analysis of the best life carriers for juveniles.

They appear in no particular order and remember that not every carrier has their product available in all states.

#1 Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha (also known as United of Omaha) unquestionably offers the best whole life insurance for juveniles.

Their application is extremely simple, pricing is the lowest on the market and Mutual of Omaha has an excellent customer service and financial track record.

Lastly, if the policy owner dies, they will waive all premiums for 90 days. For kids life insurance, that's unheard of.
Sample Mutual of Omaha Premiums
#2 Globe Life

Globe Life whole life for children is very inexpensive just like Mutual of Omaha. However, they will only allow you to buy up to $30,000 on a juvenile.

Also, Globe does not have the best service record in the industry. They are still worthy of being toward the top of the list just strictly based off how inexpensive they are.
Sample Globe Life Premiums
#3 Gerber Life

Grow up life insurance from Gerber Life is a great option if you already bought the max coverage with Mutual of Omaha.
Sample Gerber Life Premiums
#4 Foresters Financial

Foresters financial has been in business over 145 years, so they are not new the life insurance business.

Their premiums are very low and they will allow you to buy up to $75,000 in coverage. The downside? You have to meet up with an agent face to face to apply.
Sample Foresters Premiums
#5 Protective

Protective is a financially sound company with a strong financial history. What's really unique about them is they will allow you to insure an 18-year-old.

Most child life insurance companies (or young adults) stop at age 17.
Sample Protective Life Premiums
#6 Royal Neighbors of America

This will sound crazy but it's true. Royal Neighbors of America was the first life insurance company in the USA to ever provide life insurance to children!

While that's an amazing accolade, they require you meet face to face with an agent to sign your juvenile up for life insurance with them.
Sample Royal Neighbors Premiums
#7 American Amicable

Have you ever seen the show Fixer Upper? In the introduction to that show, the big building in the background is the home office for American Amicable.

You can insure the life of your grandchildren with them or your own children. Premiums are competitive, but they sadly have no online application process. You must speak with an agent.
Sample American Amicable Premiums
#8 Transamerica

Transamerica is a strong company financially. Their prices are fair, but for some reason they have no online application process.

You must do the application with an agent either over the phone & email or in person.
Sample Transamerica Premiums
#9 Physicians Mutual

Physicians Mutual thankfully does have an online application process that's fairly easy to use.

The downside with them is their prices could be lower to match their competition. They are a financially sound insurance company though.
Sample Physicians Mutual Premiums

AGE

$5,000

$10,000

1

$2.95

$5.90

4

$3.40

$6.80

8

$3.85

$7.70

12

$4.45

$8.90

#10 Liberty Banker's Life

Liberty Bankers will not sell you a policy that costs less than $15.00 per month for some reason. Essentially, this means you may have to buy more coverage than you may want.

They would be more favorable if they did away with that rule. Nonetheless, they are a solid company with good customer service and fair prices.
Sample Liberty Bankers Life Premiums
My Child Was Born With Health Issues. Will They Qualify?

It will depend on what specific health issue(s) your juvenile child has. In a nutshell, some issues are acceptable, and some are not.

As a basic example, being prematurely born is not a problem.

However, if your child has a developmental condition, they unfortunately will not qualify.

Here are some of the most common conditions a juvenile could have that would most likely cause them to be declined:

If your child has no issues, they will be approved.

How To Find The Best Whole Life Juvenile Policy

To figure out which policy is best for you, all you need to do is evaluate the following items from each company that you're considering.

After you know these things, you can make an informed decision.

Price

Can you apply online?

How much coverage can you buy?

What happens if the owner of the policy dies?

Financial track record of the insurance company

When can the insured children buy more coverage later in life?

Customer service track record

Which riders (if any) are included?

With that data, it should be very simple to make a decision.

After gathering the data, the winner is clear.

When you analyze all the data points above, it's very easy to see that Mutual of Omaha is head and shoulders above the rest.

Not only do they offer the lowest kids life insurance rates, but they have excellent customer service and financial records. Also, their online application is the easiest in the business.

Check out this table below to compare the three biggest juvenile life insurance companies side by side.

Information

Coverage Options

$5,000-
$50,000

$5,000-
$30,000

$10,000-
$50,000

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10 Best Juvenile Life Insurance Companies In 2020 [A+ Ratings]

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Looking for a juvenile life insurance policy and have questions? Great, you came to the right place. In this article, you'll see prices, how these plan work, the best companies and more. What's Covered In This Article A juvenile life insurance policy is normally a whole life insurance plan that's $10,000-$50,000 in coverage.

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Would you buy a car for your four-year-old child just because they might need one when they get older? Of course, you wouldn't. But, you know what? Insurance companies want you to do something just as incongruous. Believe it or not, many insurance companies want you to buy life insurance for children, just in case they might need it when they get older.

You've probably seen the ads on television that artfully target parents and grandparents, encouraging them to buy life insurance for children. Of course, the insurance companies don't emphasize they are selling life insurance on children. Instead, they cloak the pitch with terms such as a "get started plan," a "grow up plan" or the favorite, as a "college plan." No matter how it's couched by the insurance companies, the objective is to make an easy profit by preying on the love of parents or grandparents to sell unneeded life insurance for children.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against life insurance. After all, I started my career as an agent selling life insurance and ended up as president of one of the largest life insurance companies. I spent my career trying to peddle as much life insurance as I could, but one tactic I always thought was wrong was trying to sell life insurance on children.
Life insurance is best when used for its intended purpose.
Life insurance can be a valuable part of any financial plan but only if it is needed and can serve a useful purpose. The only valid rationale for life insurance is to cover any economic loss that may occur in the event of the death of the insured. Life insurance proceeds can replace lost income for a young family and pay off a mortgage or other debts. It can also stabilize or monetize a small business if a key player should die.

The point is, if no one will experience an economic loss as the result of an individual's death, there is no need for life insurance. Parents and grandparents will certainly suffer an emotional loss at the rare occurrence of the death of a child, but rarely will this create a debilitating economic loss for the parents or family.

Even insurance companies understand how macabre it is to focus on economic benefits derived from a child's death, so they take a different approach. Companies selling juvenile life insurance stress that the policy is a "grow up plan." The idea is that, when the child grows up, they will already have life insurance at very cheap rates and this could be important if, for some reason, they can't qualify for life insurance when they need it. That sounds nice, but the reality is that a vast majority of all individuals are able to qualify for life insurance well into middle age. Why buy and pay premiums on unnecessary life insurance for an unnecessary reason?

Insurance companies like to suggest that buying whole life insurance for a child is a good way to begin to save for college tuition. It is a good idea to start saving for college when a child is young, but buying whole life insurance is one of the least effective ways to do so. It is true that a whole life policy on a child will, over time, build up a certain amount of cash value, but because the policies are so small (usually $10,000 or less) the amount of cash that will accumulate in the policy by age 18 generally amounts to no more than $1,000. (Even insurance companies limit the amount of life insurance they will issue on a child, lest there is some perverted incentive that the child becomes worth more dead than alive.) In truth, there are many better ways save for a child's education than buying an insurance policy on their life.
Put the money where it counts.
The reality is that most parents are underinsured relative to the economic plight that will befall their young children if either of the parents dies. Rather than wasting money buying unnecessary life insurance on a child, those funds could be diverted to buying life insurance on the parents where, most often, the insurance is needed. If grandparents really want to express their love for their grandchildren, they could better do so by providing the funds to buy life insurance on the parents.

To judge the value of buying life insurance on a child against purchasing insurance on the parent, simply compare how much life insurance the same premium will buy on the parent (using a 5- or 10-year term) with the death value of the child's policy. The result may surprise you -- but, more importantly, it will clearly show why parents and grandparents should not fall for the insurance industry's juvenile trick to offer life insurance for children.

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Council Post: Don't Fall For The Life Insurance Industry's Juvenile Trick

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Would you buy a car for your four-year-old child just because they might need one when they get older? Of course, you wouldn't. But, you know what? Insurance companies want you to do something just as incongruous. Believe it or not, many insurance companies want you to buy life insurance for children, just in case they might need it when they get older.