Life insurance… it’s a topic I know very little about, other than it will protect my children if I pop my clogs, but let’s face it, none of us wants to think too much about life insurance because it’s something that’s associated with bad news, such as a death or a serious illness. However, it’s something I’ve been thinking about more and more lately, probably thanks to the Covid shit show of a year and half we’ve all just been through.
Becoming a mum for the first time is the ultimate game changer and while you can do all the ante natal courses in the world, read all the books, get all the gore stories, watch every episode of One Born Every minute and even consider yourself a bit of a seasoned baby pro thanks to your years of babysitting, nothing can fully prepare you for motherhood.
You just have to live it.
It’s incredible, it’s amazing, it’s often messy and mad, but I think most of us agree it’s probably up there with the best things we’ve ever done.
It was still completely bonkers though and there were plenty of scenarios I encountered especially in those first weeks and months, that were pretty unexpected. Googling ‘green baby poo normal?’ and ‘can you die from lack of sleep?’ at three in the morning were things I never thought I’d be doing, but one of the biggest things that struck me very early on was this crushing sense of responsibility. I was this tiny baby’s entire world and as someone who struggled to keep a basil plant alive, I really did feel a sense of pressure.
The truth was I had to adult; for real this time.
Four and a half years into this motherhood gig, I now realise that as unpleasant as it might be to think about, I’ve got to make a provision to ensure my two dudes are looked after in the event of something happening to me.
So, I bit the bullet and I chatted with the nice folks at the online life insurance advisor lion.ie the experts at demystifying the entire topic of life insurance. What I quickly learned was that there are three main areas to consider as a mum;
Loss of income if I’m unable to work.
Loss of income for my kids if I die before my time.
Loss of income due to a serious illness.
There it was in black and white. The shit you hope never happens, but if it does you just want to be as prepared as you can be, to make it as un-shitty as possible.
There was so much I hadn’t considered, such as if I had health issues or if I was a single mum? How long should my policy last and how could I ensure the pay out goes directly to my children? As well as issues around income protection and fundamentally, the cost of a policy, which I learned could even be around as little as €1 a day… you don’t even get a notions latte for that.
It’s not a conversation many of us want to have, but mamas if you can get through labour, you can definitely get through a chat about life insurance.
*This post was written in collaboration with Lion.ie