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Is Gerber Life Insurance any good for my daughter?

Public Comments

1. it is okay but you would be better off with putting the money into a jar
2. I'm trying to figure this out as well. I guess I'm just adding to this question... My parents did something similar to this for me and my siblings. I now am 29 and have a $10,000 Whole life insurance policy. But it has dividends, which at this point are at about $6,500. I could take this money out and still have the 10000 as life insurance. Is the Gerber Life the same? To me that would definitely make it worth it. I don't plan on taking the dividends out any time soon, but that's a nice chunk of change that's available to me, and my parents didn't pay that much for the policy.
3. I haven't looked at their rates lately, but the whole life plan we have for our kids is about $100/year ($25 paid quarterly) for $10K through Knights of Columbus. My dad started a similar plan for me with Northwestern Mutual when I was a baby and it is worth about triple what it started at and has very low premiums. Here's a link where the Gerber Plan was discussed more extensively. http://askville.amazon.com/worthy-GERBER-Life-Insurance-babies/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=10207676 I think that the savings account vs life insurance policy debate is a good one. Say you start at birth with $100 and continue to add $100 per year earning 5%. In 80 years it will have grown to about $107,000 with just an $8000 investment, thank you compound interest. That's probably a lot better than a life insurance policy will perform, but will it be realistic that the money won't ever be touched...maybe, that is a decision for you to make. Personally, I like having the whole life my parents bought in place (for which I now pay the premiums) and buying additional term insurance during the years I have children to provide for. When the term (20 years) expires I will only have the whole life policy left, but it will be more than enough to cover my final expenses and if I die during the time my term life is in effect I will leave enough to take care of my family. My husband is similarly covered, and we've found this to be the best situation for us. http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm
4. Last time I answered a question like this I got like 20 thumbs down but I will say it again. Unless your child is the bread winner of the family or makes a lot of money then insurance policy's for infants and children is a total waste of money. Yu would be better off opening up a savings account for your daughter.
5. I would just save the money yourself. Put it in a savings account, or under a mattress. Whatever you have to.
6. Whole life insurance is a waste of money. The only one who benefits from a whole life policy is the person selling it to you. Put the money you would put into a life insurance policy into a savings account or into a college savings plan and you will be much better off financially. (This information is based on personal experience).
7. I think Gerber Life Insurance is great. I have 3 and one on the way and I do not have tons of money but I knew I wanted life insurance for my children. After much research I thought Gerber had the best plan. It pays out very well if you don't use it and the premium never goes up. What good does the money in the jar do if, God forbid, your child does pass away? I am not trying to be rude I am seriously asking what in the world good does it do? I have the $10,000 plan that doubles to $20,000 when they are 20. If you start it before your child is 1 then you gets the cheapest rates. I pay $6.00 per kid per month. I pay by every 6 months and save a little too. Well I think that the money they can barrow or cash out is really good. If you get ahold of them then they will give you a detailed list of that by year. Also, again hopefully it won't happen but, if your child gets some kind of life threatening disease they will have a real hard time getting insurance as they get older, if they cannot get it through a job, or they will pay crazy rates. Gerber guarentees that no matter what happens to the childs health they will always have the right to further their insurance. So at 18 I think it is or maybe 20 my kids plan they can get $50,000 ;life insurance and when they get a little older they can get $100,000 life insurance. I would love to say that my kids will never get sick and I will never loose them, I don't know what I would do if anything like that happened but if you really want to be prepared and financially stable in case and build them up some money as well then Gerber is a great way to go. Or put your money in a jar but at $6.00 a month that is only $72 a year and only $1,296 over the next 18 years. If you can have a funeral, bury and all the other many costs involved for $6.00 to $1,296 then PLEASE tell me how because that is amazing. Gereber gives you security and it pays out. Best of all if your child had heart problems or Epilepsy or any of the many many other health issues that would make it hard for them to get insurance later in life they can never be denied if they have Gerber. They can either keep the small amount for the same premium that never goes up or they can purchase more life insurance and pay the set premiium for that age. I feel good that they will have security in their future no matter what happens.
8. Gerber Life Insurance is a legitimate life insurance company and they sell legitimate life insurance products. If you are just looking to save money for future expenses and college savings then life insurance is not the most efficient way to do that since you have to pay for the death benefit coverage. You should look into a 529 college savings plan, Coverdell IRA, Roth IRA, and just your general family savings to save for college or for future expenses. I always recommend that new parents make sure they have life insurance on themselves as the top priority since your kid will be much harder off financially if something happens to you versus the other way around. Your losses will be mostly emotional if your child dies since they don't work. If you still want to have some life insurance on your child most life insurance companies offer a child rider that you can tack on to your policy for a few bucks per month.