Your life insurance policy doesn’t have to just cover you. In fact, you can simplify your life and budget by adding family coverage riders to your life insurance policy. These riders provide affordable coverage for your spouse and children.

Child rider coverage

You can buy life insurance for your children through a child rider on your policy. Generally, the purchase of one child rider will cover all children that you have, including those that you adopt. The rider generally offers $10,000-$20,000 (in increments of $5,000) in insurance coverage for each child and has a low premium expense. The rider is often convertible into individual policies once the children are of age. As you continue to have or adopt children, make sure you contact your insurer and supply them with the names of your children as well as dates of birth and social security numbers.

Spouse rider coverage

If you want to cover your spouse on the same policy you have, you can buy a spouse rider. A spouse rider pays a death benefit if your spouse should die before you do. It is important to understand that if your spouse dies after you die, there is usually no death benefit paid to your spouse’s beneficiary. In addition, they will have no access to cash value accumulation since the policy and cash values are owned by you, not the spouse. Spouse riders do not always offer the same extent of insurance death benefit as an individual policy would so it is important to make sure that it offers you and your family enough coverage to be financially helpful. Souse riders are generally not convertible into individual policies, unlike child riders. In the event of a divorce, a spouse rider will become invalid but you must still notify your insurer so that they do not continue to charge you the additional premiums.

Remember, every insurance company is different and has their own approach to offering a rider. This article series on riders is meant to give a general overview of options. It is not an exhaustive list of available riders and does not reflect the rules or policies of every insurer. Be sure you read the fine print and fully understand the riders you are thinking of adding to your policy before you commit to them. Remember to also explore the benefits of additional insured riders against the benefit of buying individual policies for your family members.

When you are shopping for a health insurance quote one of the things you might consider is a group health insurance policy. But you should know that there are many drawbacks to group health insurance policies that can adversely affect you and your family.

The Difference between Individual and Group Policies

Before you look for health insurance quotes you should understand the difference between group and individual health insurance policies. Group health insurance policies are those issued to employer, fraternal or trade groups. They have advantageous rates because there is a distribution of policies to both sick and healthy people. In addition, group insurance policies are not individually underwritten so your individual health problems are not taken into consideration when you buy into a group health insurance plan.

Individual insurance policies are issued to individuals and families. The rates are based on the health history and potential health future of the individuals the policy is issued to. The policy issuance is not dependent on being a member of any particular group. You can be denied coverage if you have certain illnesses unless you live in a state with guaranteed issue policies.

The Drawbacks to Group Health Insurance Policies

You can only keep a group health insurance policy for as long as you are a member of the group. Once you leave the group you may have access to COBRA, which allows you to carry the group insurance coverage up to 36 months after you leave the group. If you get a group policy while you are healthy and then you become chronically ill while you have the policy, you may no longer be able to get your own individual policy.

Additionally, while you may be able to choose between plans in your group’s benefit profile, there is no guarantee that the group will offer the type of policy or coverage options that you and your family really need. You may be subject to a restrictive set of doctors and treatment centers, may not be able to see doctors that you are used to seeing and may not have certain care options that you are used to getting.

In short, if group health is the only kind of policy you can get due to poor health or financial issues, then it is a good choice. Otherwise, an individual policy may be a better bet.