What About Mama?

In families where the mother stays at home to raise and nurture the children, sometimes you hear a thoughtless husband say, “Oh we don’t need life insurance on her because we don’t depend on her income.” 

Rather than argue the point, I think the best thing to do is to ask the question: “What does mama do around here?” After he has listed everything from counseling to car pooling, from shopping to studying, from bookkeeping to baking, from correcting to cleaning—then you might ask, “So, what would it cost to hire a professional to come in and do all of those jobs?” Finally, with an amount agreed on, multiply that times the number of years of childhood still ahead—and, there you have a ballpark figure of the amount of insurance that you need to replace Mama!

The Bottom Line

As the title of this article indicates, I think of life insurance as love insurance.  One of the most loving things a family bread winner can do is protect his family. One of the foundational building blocks to achieving this goal is to care enough to make sure that if you die, grief for your lose won’t be compounded by a financial catastrophe. 

Steve Diggs presents the No Debt No Sweat! Christian Money Management Seminar at churches and other venues nationwide. Visit Steve on the Web at www.stevediggs.com or call 615-834-3063.  The author of several books, today Steve serves as a minister for the Antioch Church of Christ in Nashville.  For 25 years he was President of the Franklin Group, Inc.  Steve and Bonnie have four children whom they have home schooled.  The family lives in Brentwood, Tennessee.