Not quibbling over the H&S plan or even the accident plan for the child. I'd pay for that.
What I don't get is why an insurance agent would suggest whole life or term life for a baby/child? The parents need that additional coverage, not the kid. Because touchwood if the kid pass away, it's tragic but the parents are not financially impacted. No amount of insurance payout can ever ever compensate the loss of one's child.
But not the other way round; parents must adequately insure themselves to make sure their kids can carry on without them till after college.
I'd start my child off with an index tracking ETF immediately with an aggressive equity/bond allocation to give them that headstart. Cheaper and higher potential returns. Not an endowment or whole life plan. But yes I understand 20 years ago there were not as many options but now we do and we should pursue those more fit-for-purpose options.
There is no right or wrong answer, because at the end of the day as parents we need to do what we feel is best for our kids, with what we know.
Everyone's financial literacy level is different as is their risk appetite.
But what really pisses me off is when people (read: insurance agents) prey on new parents' fears and insecurities to push commission-rich products such as whole life, endowments or ILPs that don't serve the purpose the best way they (the parents and the baby) should be served. In that sense, we do have a wrong answer.
Well, things that pisses you off, pisses me off too.
But I'd like to ask, why do we almost always link insurance solely to its death benefits?
A shield plan could only cover as much as hospitalisation-incurred expenses while an accudent plan could only cover that much of outpatient bills that are caused by accidents.
As dendii mentioned, are CI coverage unimportant?
What if 10yrs later, this child got into an accident and loose an arm or the sense of sight, his treatment could be covered by H&S and PA, no doubt about it. But one thing for sure, he couldn't get any other life insurance to cover his death/TPD/CI in the future.
Is that never a concern at all?
The premiums of a good $1.5k a year put into investing, assuming you (the parent) makes an average returns of 8% p.a. for the next 20yrs from now, is only able to make you a return of $75k at best. Is it not worth migitating the risk with insurance instead?
I'm pretty sure most parents would be able to pay at least $100/mth for their kids's insurance while allocating another minimal $200/mth into growing a separate fund with other vehicles available.