With my divorce pending and becoming final in about six weeks, I have had to take a long, hard look at my future and the future of my kids. Sure, if something happened to me, they would go to their father, but what about their college educations and weddings and things that could literally ruin a family trying to pay for three kids at once?
And what if nothing does happen to me and I am solely responsible for cars and college and weddings? It is more plausible that things will fall in my court.
So, lately, I have been trying to figure out just how much life insurance I need, how much I need to put into college funds and how much I need to be saving in order to be there for my girls when they need me. And yes, I have heard the argument that they should pay for everything themselves. I agree to an extent but want to help if I can. It is my nature and these are my kids that I want to plan to help in the future.
I love that there are tools and companies out there – like Genworth Financial – now that can help me understand why women need life insurance, even if we are stay at home moms and with no current income. So I have been trying to decide, based on my income, how much per month I need to set aside for future events. I can even choose life insurance that pays out while I am still around to enjoy my kids!
The ‘experts’ say by the time I am done with all of my number crunching I should be putting away almost 15% for three kids. Now, realistically, I do have to feed my kids, so that will not be happening. But I am going to start with 6- 10% and spread it out. I don’t need all the cable channels, after all. I am hoping that when the time comes I will be the back up my kids need to start out their adult lives on a debt-free foot.
And if they all drop out of school and become rock stars, I’ll just have that much more to fly to Tahiti on! So, we all win!
What about you? As a single parent do you plan for these events? Or is it all we can do just to keep our head above water?
Check out some more of the awesome tools online, like the calculator above, and get some help reaching your goals!
Information for this post is sourced from Genworth Financial in partnership with the SheHeard Influencer Network.” All writings and opinions are my own. Please see my Disclosure Statement for more information.
Good for you! One of the biggest mistakes I see parents make is not making sure their properly covered. I don’t like thinking about the idea of something happening to me or my daughter’s father – but even more so, I want to make sure they have a good life even if I’m not there. I find it’s a difficult conversation for people to start (I’m a financial advisor) but once they do, they’re glad they did. You’re doing the right thing!
Thank you Shannon!! I agree. I think that so many want the kids to take it over that they forget about taking care for other reasons! Thank you for reading and commenting!