The 5 Best Life Insurance Companies for Children in 2023

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Life insurance is one of the best ways to provide for your loved ones in the event of your sudden passing. According to a 2019 Life Insurance and Market Research Association survey, 66% of Americans purchase life insurance to help replace lost income for their family if they should pass away.

Children’s life insurance is a different matter entirely. Although children’s policies can be used to pay for funeral expenses in the event of their untimely death, many parents purchase one to guarantee their children’s life insurance coverage as adults. Furthermore, most children’s policies provide the ability to accumulate cash value that can be used as your child gets older to help with paying for college, starting a business, or buying their first house. To get a child's life insurance policy, you'll need to call an agent directly as quotes and applications aren't generally available online.

We looked at over a dozen children’s life insurance policies for this review and chose the best based on coverage benefits, price, ease of qualifying, future coverage options, and more. Here are our top five picks.

The 5 Best Life Insurance Companies for Children in 2023

Best Overall: Mutual of Omaha
Best for Newborns: Globe Life
Best for Complete Family Coverage: State Farm
Best for College Savings: Gerber Life College Plan
Best Value: Thrivent

Best Overall : Mutual of Omaha

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Founded in 1909, Mutual of Omaha was one of the first companies to provide disability insurance to non-professional workers. Today the company offers term, whole life insurance, and supplemental Medicare coverage, and boasts an A+ rating from AM Best. We chose Mutual of Omaha as the best overall because of its strong underwriting history, affordable premiums, and simple application process.

Mutual of Omaha offers whole life insurance for children ages 14 days to 17 years with death benefits from $5,000 to $50,000. You can get a quote and apply for a policy online in minutes by entering some basic information and answering a few health questions. No medical exam is necessary.

Mutual of Omaha's Children's Whole Life insurance offers locked-in rates that won't increase with age, no decrease in benefits into adulthood, the ability to purchase additional coverage without providing evidence of insurability, and a cash value that builds over time.

Each policy also comes with a Guaranteed Insurability Rider that lets the policy owner purchase more coverage on the insured children for certain life events. The rider can be used up to five times by mixing and matching the following milestones:

Ages 25, 30, 35, and 40
Marriage
Birth or adoption of a child
Home purchase

Mutual of Omaha also offers some of the lowest premiums for children's life insurance.

Best for Newborns : Globe Life

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Globe Life is a life insurance company with roots that go back to 1900, with the founding of Liberty National Life Insurance. Today it offers a variety of life and mortgage insurance policies for over 16 million customers and enjoys an A+ rating with AM Best. We chose it as the best for newborns due to its easy application process, no waiting period, and the cheapest locked-in rates for newborns we've seen.

Globe Life offers simple, no medical exam whole life insurance that can be purchased entirely online without a doctor visit or talking to an insurance agent. Coverage is available from ages 0 to 24 with death benefit payouts between $5,000 and $30,000 and accumulating cash value. No medical exam is required, and coverage is available the day your policy begins.

Globe Life offers the lowest premiums for newborns that we've found. Another benefit is Globe Life's locked-in rates: Premiums will stay the same for the rest of your child‘s life. To sweeten the deal, Globe Life sets its premium for the first month at only $1.

Best for Complete Family Coverage : State Farm

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Originally founded in 1922 as an auto insurance company, State Farm now offers a variety of insurance, banking, and investment products. The company carries an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best. We chose it as the best for complete family coverage because it makes it easy to add any number of children with an affordable add-on rider.

State Farm offers term, whole, and universal life insurance policies with paid add-on riders that extend your coverage. One of these, the Children's Term Rider, allows you to add as many children as you want to your existing policy with death benefits up to $20,000.

Children can even be added to your plan before they're born and will be automatically covered once they are 15 days old. This term coverage will end when each child turns 25 or if the primary policy should end for any reason.

A Children's Term Rider can be converted to permanent insurance when the child reaches age 25. As with most children's life insurance, State Farm does not require a medical exam.

To get an accurate quote, you'll need to contact your local State Farm Agent. However, State Farm's website estimates a cost of less than $5 per month for $10,000 of coverage for each child added.

Best for College Savings : Gerber Life College Plan

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Gerber is a well-known baby food brand recognized by millions by its iconic logo. The company has also been providing life insurance for children since 1967 and has earned an A rating from AM Best for financial strength. We chose Gerber as the best for college savings because it offers life insurance with a guaranteed payout at the end of the term that can be used to pay for your child’s college expenses.

Gerber’s Life College Plan pricing is based on your age and your child’s age. Once you enter your information, you choose a policy term between 10 and 20 years and adjust the amount you want to put into the account every month. This system gives you unrivaled flexibility to determine your monthly cost.

The guaranteed payout offered by Gerber’s plan starts at $10,000 with a maximum of $150,000 depending on your and your child’s age. If the policyholder passes away before the end of the policy term, Gerber will pay the full benefit to your child or another beneficiary.

Once your term is over, your child will be able to use the full term amount to pay for college. Unlike a 529 Plan or an educational IRA, the Gerber Life College Plan has no restrictions on how the payout funds can be used. They can be spent on college tuition or expenses, to start a business, for a down payment on a home, or anything else that will help your child get a head start on life.

Best Value : Thrivent

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Thrivent was founded in 1902 to provide insurance for the Lutheran community. Today, the company offers a wide range of financial solutions, investments, insurance, and banking programs and enjoys an A++ rating from AM Best. We chose Thrivent as the best value because it offers flexible, low-premium whole, universal, and variable universal life insurance for children.

Thrivent’s juvenile life insurance is similar to many other whole life children’s policies and is available to children up to 18 years old. The policy features premiums that won’t increase until age 70, cash value accumulation, and the guaranteed ability to add extra coverage without underwriting.

Thrivent also allows you to add a paid waiver of premium rider to a child’s life insurance policy to ensure premium payments will continue to be made if they become disabled as an adult. No medical exam is required to apply for a policy.

Thrivent has no online quote generator, and you have to request that a representative contact you by phone or email to discuss policies and pricing. Nonetheless, the website estimates that a $25,000 policy for a one-year-old boy will cost only $12 per month.

FAQs

What Is Child Life Insurance?

Children’s life insurance is slightly different from life insurance for adults. Although you can use it to pay for funeral expenses if your child passes away, it can also act as an investment in their future.

Most children’s life insurance policies guarantee coverage for your child once their policy ends, usually at age 18 or 21. At that point, they can automatically switch over to an adult policy with no need to apply, regardless of their health. Life insurance companies also allow children who convert to an adult policy to purchase additional coverage at various age and life milestones, like getting married or having a child of their own.

Many children’s life insurance policies offer a cash value, which is like a savings account built up using a portion of the monthly policy premium. Once a policy ends, the child has access to the cash value and can borrow against it with loans as an adult for life expenses.

What Does Child Life Insurance Include or Exclude?

Although most child life insurance plans don’t require the child to have a medical exam, most require filling out a health history form. In some cases, costs may be higher for children with special needs or medical conditions.

Other exclusions are based on the circumstance of death and can include suicidal or self-harmful behavior, participating in high-risk activities or sports, alcohol or drug abuse, accidents while under the influence, and criminal activities.

Who Should Get Child Life Insurance?

A children’s life insurance plan is just one way to invest in your child’s future. The cash value associated with most policies alone can act as a savings account to help with major life expenses once they become an adult, like college tuition, marriage, or having a child.

If your child has special needs or a health condition, a children’s life insurance policy can also help them secure life insurance once they’re an adult with no need for a medical exam or requalification.

How Much Does Child Life Insurance Cost?

Children’s life insurance is generally more affordable than adult life insurance, as a whole life policy or a term life insurance rider. You can expect to pay $5 to $10 for a $10,000 policy with a choice of payouts between $5,000 to $50,000.

How We Chose the Best Child Life Insurance

We looked at over a dozen children’s policies for this review. We made sure to focus on insurers who had been in business for a long time to ensure financial reliability. We also wanted to find companies that provided affordable rates and easy options to convert to an adult policy once the children’s policy expired.

Although cash value is a great feature of most children’s life insurance, it wasn’t necessarily a requirement in our search. There are many ways to use these policies to invest in your child’s future beyond having money to borrow against. In the end, a good policy allows your child to either cash out their policy when they become an adult to help with the next stage of their life or to continue coverage as an adult to provide for their own families.

Family with children playing — Nitat Termmee / Getty Images

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