[sak9645]

I am not sure why anyone would need life insurance for a child, unless the child was a celebrity.

The main purpose of life insurance is to provide the beneficiary with a replacement for income lost because of a person's death.

For example, if the primary breadwinner in a family dies and has life insurance naming the spouse as beneficiary, the survivor will be able to use the proceeds of the policy to pay the mortgage and such, until he/she decides whether to buy a cheaper home, work more hours, or whatever is necessary (if anything) to survive under the changed circumstances.

Very often, if there is a married couple where only one spouse works outside the home, only the working spouse will be covered by life insurance. However, some couples in this situation also buy life insurance for the nonworking spouse, because if he/she dies, the survivor may need to purchase the services that non-working spouse usually performs, such as housekeeping and childcare.

In the case of a single parent with a child, the parent will usually purchase life insurance so that, in the event of his/her death, whoever assumes guardianship of the child will have the proceeds to use in raising him/her.

Some adults who are responsible for the care of elderly or disabled parents or other relatives buy life insurance naming these people as beneficiaries. Again, the purpose of the life insurance is to provide income for the future upkeep of these relatives, if the policy holders die.

Since a child does not generally earn significant income, and is generally not a source of financial support to his/her parents or anyone else, buying life insurance for him/her doesn't make a lot of sense. Yes, in the unlikely event that the child should die, there will be the expenses of a funeral, but those costs usually do not justify the premium of life insurance. And the parents' grief over the loss of their child will not be assuaged by even a significant insurance company payout.

What I would suggest is that you spend your money to buy larger amounts of life insurance for the breadwinner(s) in your family, and to upgrade your health insurance so that, if your child winds up with a serious medical issue, you can get the best possible care for him/her.

Some people do buy burial plots for their family and prepay other funeral expenses, so that, when the time comes, the survivors can give them the sort of funeral that is customary in their tradition, without having to worry about where the money is going to come from. If having a lavish funeral -- for an adult or a child -- is part of your tradition, and if you really want to plan far in advance of need, you can certainly set up a small fund for this purpose. However, I would say that most young couples with children probably don't need to do so, since a long life is more likely than an interrupted one at that stage.

Sharon