Buying Life Insurance for Your Parents: A Step-by-Step Guide

While you may be familiar with purchasing life insurance policies for yourself, you might be surprised to learn it’s also possible to buy life insurance coverage for other individuals, including your parents.

You may want to purchase life insurance for your parents if you anticipate needing help to cover costs like their funeral expenses and end-of-life medical bills. A life insurance policy can also help ease the financial burden if you need to take time off of work to care for your parents or if you need to pay off their debts after they die.

• Buying Life Insurance for Parents
• Asking for Consent
• Choosing the Right Coverage
• When to Buy
• Benefits of Coverage
• Cost of Coverage
• FAQs

Life insurance can be a sensitive topic for children and parents to discuss. If you’re interested in purchasing a life insurance policy for your parents, you should approach the subject with care and tact.

While it can be awkward to talk about, discussing life insurance and end-of-life plans can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and that everything goes smoothly when the time comes. The earlier you can begin the conversation, the better.

Individuals can’t take out a life insurance policy for another person without their knowledge and explicit consent. In other words, you can’t take out a life insurance policy for your parents without them knowing about it.

While there are many benefits to life insurance, it’s not possible to purchase a policy if your parents don't agree to it.

When talking about life insurance with a parent or loved one, you should be patient and understanding, regardless of what your parents decide. While you can encourage them to purchase life insurance and offer assistance with the process, they still have the final say regarding whether or not to buy a policy.

Once you and your parents have decided to get a life insurance policy, the next step is to determine what type of coverage is right for your situation. Asking your parents a series of detailed questions about their coverage needs can help you find the best type of policy for them.

The answers to the above questions can help you narrow down the type of life insurance policy that makes sense for your situation. For example, if your parents are interested in guaranteed coverage for life and cost is not a barrier, you might want to consider whole life insurance.

On the other hand, if they don’t have room in their budget for high monthly premiums and you anticipate needing some help to cover the cost of a funeral, a final expense life insurance policy might be a better fit. If your parents have dependents, it might make sense to purchase a more generous life insurance policy to provide for those dependents.

Learn more about some of the most common types of life insurance coverage in the table below.

A term life insurance policy with a term length based on age is a good choice for many people. Customers can also add features called riders to their life insurance plans.

Riders can provide benefits like the option to convert to a whole life insurance policy and increased death benefits in the case of an accident. If your budget is a limiting factor, you might want to consider a final expense life insurance policy to cover basic expenses.

If you’re considering buying life insurance for your parents, opening a policy as early as possible is best. If you wait, your parents could develop health issues that disqualify them from getting insured. The older your parents are, the more expensive life insurance policies become.

Life insurance policies can help cover the cost of final expenses for your parents, including burial costs, end-of-life medical bills and other costs.

Depending on the type of policy you purchase, you may also receive more generous cash benefits you can use to help care for any dependents or other purposes.

Life insurance rates increase with age. On average, it costs three to four times more for someone to buy life insurance in their 50s than someone in their 30s, and up to 10 times as much for adults 60 and older.

Even if your parents are in excellent health, it can be expensive to insure them. Whole life insurance policies and policies that don’t require a medical exam tend to be even more costly.

Before you purchase a life insurance policy, it’s a good idea to compare rates and coverage amounts for several policies to ensure that you’re selecting the best possible plan for your situation.

Whole life insurance and guaranteed acceptance life insurance tend to be more expensive than a term life insurance policy. Other policies may not make the most financial sense for healthy individuals who qualify for a term life insurance policy.

While it can be tempting to purchase the lifelong coverage whole life insurance provides, in practice, you may be better off financially if you choose a term life insurance policy.

Before you ultimately decide on a policy, it’s a good idea to do your due diligence and research all available policy options to ensure that you get adequate coverage at an affordable price.

Buying life insurance for your parents can sometimes be confusing since it works a little differently than purchasing a policy for yourself. We’ll cover some common concerns that come up when purchasing life insurance for your parents.