Having a child and making sure they’re protected

Protecting your baby

In the first few months of your child’s life, you’ll have lots of worries—take some off your mind with the accident insurance products for babies that are available. This type of coverage is designed to provide financial assistance so you can take care of your family in the event of an accident.

Accident insurance for babies can be used as a complement to other insurance plans (such as group insurance, private or public insurance coverage). For example, they can be used to cover additional hospital or childcare costs.

Even when parents do everything in their power to ensure the health and safety of their little ones, Statistics Canada unfortunately shows that accidents (unintentional injuries) are one of the leading causes of infant death.

Many insurers offer such insurance products at low cost, sometimes even free. You may want to look into it!

Protecting your growing child

After 24 months, your baby is learning to walk, talk and become more and more independent. At this point you may want to protect your growing child in the event of not only accidents, but also certain diseases.

For example, critical illness insurance will allow you to take a temporary leave of absence to take care of your child if they become seriously ill. Given that the risks are low for this, this type of insurance is generally very affordable. Coverage for children aged 2 to 5 may even come with some extras.

Life insurance for your child

While insurance for yourself goes without saying, the decision to insure a child, especially an infant, is much more emotional. Here are a few considerations to help you decide.

Compensating for loss of income

The main reason to get life insurance is to compensate for the loss of income that would result from your death. Obviously, your child has no income. However, in the event of their death, you would likely need some time off to recover and grieve.

Life insurance for your child could allow you to take time off work during this time, without worrying about your financial situation, or to cover funeral expenses.

Guaranteeing your child’s insurability

By taking out life insurance for your child while they’re still in good health, you’re giving them protection that will last a lifetime! This will be enormously beneficial to your child, especially if they have health problems later in life. Should your child be diagnosed with a critical illness that prevents them from taking out life insurance as an adult, they’ll be able to rely on the life insurance you paid for when they were young.

Investing in your child’s future

As a general rule, in Canada, raising a child represents an annual expense of $10,000, until the child turns 18.

Looking ahead to when your child is an adult, you may want to support your child’s post-secondary education with a Registered Education Savings Plan, or RESP. With this product, you can benefit from substantial government subsidies that, with the magic of compound interest, can add up to a considerable sum once your child has completed high school, especially if you start contributing to the plan at an early age.

In short, to make the most of the little difficulties, but also the great joys you’ll share with your child, you need to surround yourself with the right people. When you tuck them under their covers at night, you’ll know that they’re well covered in more ways than one, which means you’ll be able to sleep soundly too!