Anyone Know Anything About the Gerber Life Grow-Up Plan??

There are much better long term policies for your childrens future.I did my research on gerber, and it was not a good investment, if that is what you are looking to do. Check out northwestern mutual. It is very important that you do get life insurance for your children, the earlier the better. God forbid anything like an illness happens, and then they are never able to obtain life insurance or they will pay extremely high costs later on in life. I don't think of our policies we have on the kids as death benifit coverage, but as security for them later on in life. Lock in policies while they are young. It is a great gift to give them. When they are adults they can continue to pay into it, or depending on the type of insurance they can use it. Check out northwestern mutual or contact me and I can give you the info. College plans are something also to look into right now.

Hi J.,
I am in a networking group with Mike Kajani who is a New York Life Insurance Company agent. He just introduced U-Promise, the college savings program at our last meeting. I think New York Life is partnering with U-Promise in some capacity. Anyway, he could help with your questions and budgetsary constraints. He's a very nice man, not pushy or aggresive, lives in Bartlett and his office is in Downers Grove. His cell number is ###-###-####.
C. D

Hi J., my husband takes care of all of our insurance, so i don't know all the details, (but i'm very confident in his research and decisions in this area) and i know that we do use that plan. We have 4 kids, so every little bit helps!

I don't know anything specifically about the Gerber plan but if it is a "whole life" plan I personally wouldn't go anywhere near it. I am not an expert but I do know something about life insurance. If you want to protect your kids in case something happens to you or your husband, buy TERM life insurance for both of you. If you want a college savings plan, use a 529 or other program like that. Do some research online before you talk to an insurance salesperson. That's just my two cents. good luck

I have these policies for my children and started them for the same reasons as you I was a single mother and could not afford much one of the best things about these policies is that they build cash value so if you get in financial trouble later you can cash in these policies I suggest picking the lowest coverage and if you can afford to later increase it. God Bless

I agree with Tija, they don't need it you do. We cancelled my son's when we learned the best ways to deal with Life Insurance (get term that is equal to 10x the salary of that person).

You may want to check out Dave Ramsey's book called "The Total Money Makeover". It has helped my husband and I learn about money and how to plan for both our and our children's futures.
Good LUck,
J.

I opened one of these policies shortly after my son was born 5 years ago, and I made the decision about a year ago to cancel the policy and put the money into a high-yield savings account. He will earn more money in the long run on this account from the interest alone. The one I opened for him was through Capital One. Just something to consider. Good luck!

H. C

I signed up when my daughter was born. I was young and didn't have money and thought i was doing my daughter a favor. But when i began to under how the policy worked i dropped it FAST. Do the math yourself. You would be better off putting the money in a money market, 529 plan or looking into a regular life insurance policy (State Farm offers one, if paid off my 18, that will never need another payment) and the Upromise program does add up over time. I hope this helps.
-D.

You need life insurance on yourselves not your children. If you die or become disabled and therefore family income decreases, that is when you need the insurance (adult life and disability). Most of the gerber stuff I have seen is for insurance on children - this is a great deal for the insurance company because generally children live well past childhood and it really is a waste of your money. It would be better to take that money and invest it in a 529 plan or any other investment fund.

I have the plan for 3 of my kids. By the time I really thought about enrolling, my oldest was too old I think or something (cant remember was 15 years ago). The other three have not reached 18 yet but from what I understand this is a term life policy, not ideal for college savings. I could be wrong it's been a long time since I've looked at any of the paperwork. I'll put this on my mental to do list so I can review. I pay semi-annually and the rates have increased over the last 15 years. The last couple of years when the statement has arrived I have questioned letting go of the expense but I work in the death care industry and have watched so many parents have to hold charity drives to bury children because it's something nobody ever plans on and the cost to bury a child isnt much cheaper than an adult. Pretty grim but better to be prepared and not have to use it than not.

Hi,
I have the Gerber Insurance for both of my kids. It is true they can't take it out until they are 21, but I think it would be a great start for a down payment on a house or something of that nature.
The other thing is I would start out with the lowest amount and then down the road you can always increase it.
Something is better than nothing!

I can tell you that I have that plan for both my children, ages 10 and 7 years old. My coverage is $10,000 and like you, I don't have alot monthly to give out. I feel this is a great plan and what I like is that if you have a good month, you can pay a whole year but if not, you can pay just the three months. It matures at such a nice time for the kids, whether they save it for it's intended purpose, or for a down payment on a house or college. It's a great way to start them off. I'd go for it and my payments have never increased.
D.

We have Gerber on our 3 kids and are adding our 3 month old son. I see that others think that a 529 plan is better, but that fund can only be used for education. If you are able to use it for another purpose other than education, I believe that the taxes are high. The Gerber money can be used for anything.

I have researched this & don't feel it is a good plan at all. My understanding is that if you put in $5,000 into the plan then your kid can cash it out at 21 for $10,000. Not to mention they will almost be out of college by the time they can cash it in. Investing in a state 529 plan gives you much more options for the future. 1) tax benefits 2) you can pick & choose the investment option & do better than doubling the money.

I see you've already received a number of responses, so you have a lot to think about! First, let me commend you for even thinking about your children's financial future when it sounds like you're in a tough financial spot yourself right now. What a great mom! Anyway, my advice would be to meet with an insurance representative rather than the Gerber plan. We use Northwest Mutual (our representative is in Northwest IN, email me if you'd like his info) and he is absolutely fantastic. He's honest and credible, which helps. But whoever you choose, you can tell the representative what your monthly budget is, and he/she can review with you different options. Everyone is different. A few things to consider, and of course hope to God that you wouldn't need any of it...but God-forbid just in case, my order would be this: life insurance on you and your husband (to support your children), disability insurance on your husband (if he's the sole income provider and he is injured and unable to work, it'll provide your family with at least some income), life insurance for your kids, and then college savings. I say life insurance ahead of college savings if you don't have access to 5-10k in savings, if God-forbid you lose a child and not have anything to cover expenses (this just happened to a friend of mine.) I say college savings last only because I feel it's important to take care of your financial future first, and if you're paycheck-to-paycheck, you need to think about your future- retirement/savings/medical, etc. Some people may disagree, but when we spoke w/ our advisor, it's the conclusion we came to. Sure, you'd like to save something for your child's future, but also your child could have access to grants, scholarships, and student loans for their future. And they'd have an entire lifetime career ahead of them to pay it off. You don't have those options for retirement. That's one of the biggest issues the baby boomers (my mom's generation) faces today- they've been saving for their child's future and not their retirement, which is why we're seeing more and more people of retirement age, in their 60s and 70s still working part-time, because they didn't save enough for their retirement. That's just my 2 cents worth. Best of luck to you and God bless!

I would not recommend this type of plan either and look into a money market or 529 plan as well.

Your children do not need life insurance. If anyone needs life insurance it would be you and your husband in case anything were to happen to one or both of you.

My husband, who is an insurance agent, said the first thing to make sure of is that you and your husband are insured. If something happens to you or your husband, you need to make sure that you still have money coming in to take care of your family to replace lost income. The Grow-Up Plan, I believe, is primarily a life insurance plan on a child. If something happens to your child, which is less likely, you have no lost income, and eventually your income can help take care of your expenses.
From what I read in your post, you are wanting to save for your child's college education. You would get a better return on your investment for your child if you instead invested in CDs, mutual funds or Bright Start rather than the Gerber Grow-Up Plan.

From what I've heard, these Gerber plans are a rip off. Also, they insure the child, not you and your husband. The two of you are the ones which need life insurance - imagine raising your 3 kids on only one salary when you are already paycheck to paycheck. A good term life insurance policy is really not that expensive assuming you are non-smokers - should just be a couple hundred bucks a year (depending on the amount of coverage). You can check around at places like State Farm, etc. Another thing to consider is that the Gerber policy insures your child - I know there are expenses associated with a funeral, etc. (which no one wants to think about), but who really wants to cash in on life insurance for their kid? Just a thought...

I have the Gerber Life Ins. for my 2 kids...ages 3 and 5. I pay $21 a month for both, you can also pay for a few months at a time. I can't remember how much coverage we have, but I believe it is one of the smaller amounts. My mother got us kids life insurance policies when we were kids so that we would have it when we got older to do what we wanted with. So I got my kids theirs, just in case - to cover really high funeral expenses, (may sound morbid, and I don't think of them needing it, but death IS a part of life...) and also so when they get older they can be in charge of it and up the amount if they choose. They also offer policies for the parents...though I have not got it. I have not needed to deal with them other than paying the monthly bill, so I can't say how they would be in case of the worst. It might not be the best deal for adults, but for kids, it is fine.

I have this plan for my 2 girls taken out just after they were born. I think it is a great idea and I like that they can take out all the money I put in when they get older and use however they want. I am happy with this plan. M.

If you are looking for a college investment, my suggestion would be to take the money you can invest in the life insurance, and put it into a 529 plan. The market isn't super terrific right now, but when it is, you get a lot more back. Plus, if you invest in an age based portfolio, the plan will automatically be a little riskier as when they are young, and then get increasingly less risky as they get closer to college. Plus, if you think about it, if their coverage only doubles at 21, they can't really use it for college at 18. We researched the Gerber plans, and they seemed a little like a scam to us. If you are still interested, you can always send away for information. Also, as far as life insurance goes, you should make sure you guys are covered first, because if something happens to you or your husband, it probably financially hit the family harder. Anyway, good luck, it's hard to think about all of these things!

Check with your auto or health insurance rep. You can get more and better for less!!! They can help you so much in planning or even your financial advisor can help on this one!

Hi J.,

My understanding is life insurance is for the living that would be out of luck if you died. The kids are not financially supporting anyone, therefore I don't think you need it.

Do you have life insurance? I would look into covering your husband and yourself (think of all the childcare costs your husband would need to pay if something ever happened to you) with life insurance.

I think a 529 savings account, even if you only put $25.00 a month would be better than life insurance.
Good luck,
K.

J.,

We have the Gerber Life insurance plan for our son and we have found it to be pretty reasonable. We will start one for our daughter when she is born. It is paid once a year. Just remember every little bit helps and is better than nothing. Good luck. Hope this helps.
T.