As an Insurance Advisor, I am constantly faced with the questions (from Male “head of households”) about how to calculate the amount of life insurance needed for a “stay-at-home” mom. In most Life Insurance Evaluations, a big component in determining the amount of life insurance one needs involves his/her annual income. If there is no actual earned income, the calculation doesn’t really work!
Over the years, I have always advised one income families that they should purchase the same amount of life insurance on the stay-at-home spouse as they purchase on the income earner. It’s funny, when I give that answer to the male income earner (when the spouse is not around), I hear all sorts of objections. I don’t think I hear the objections based on the income earner not valuing the stay-at-home spouse, but rather, not FULLY valuing what the spouse does each and every day.
As the “income earner” in a one income family, I have first hand knowledge of what my wonderful spouse does each and every day! (that’s for you Melinda)
Recently, our country’s political battle brought this topic to the forefront of the national headlines. Thankfully, this has sparked a national outcry with regard to the “worth” of stay-at-home spouses! The 2010 U.S. Census showed there were approximately 5 million stay-at-home moms in our country. While that number was down some from previous years, the stay-at-home mom is still a large demographic.
Salary.com recently did a survey in which they tried to determine the “financial worth” of the average stay-at-home mom! On average, the stay-at-home mom’s task load equates to a 95 hour work week. In calculating this work load, you have 40 hours per week at “base” pay and 54.7 hours of overtime. That equates out to an annual salary of $112,940.45! In addition, salary.com surveyed 8,000 moms to find out how much time they spend on “common tasks” and calculated the pay they would receive for managing these same services in the corporate world. Basically, for being the CEO of the household, the stay-at-home mom’s annual salary as the HOME CEO would be $171,824.
Hopefully, the days of under-valuing your stay-at-home spouse’s financial worth are over. Just imagine the financial tool you would be faced with should your spouse pre-decease you, and you were now challenged with not only being the “income earner” but also the CEO of your home! I suggest you plan accordingly!
About The Author: Jack Wingate is a Professional Insurance Advisor and Founder of ALLCHOICE Insurance in Greensboro, NC. For more information about Jack Wingate or ALLCHOICE Insurance please visit https://allchoiceinsurance.com