Gerber Grow Up Plan - Is It Worth It?

Gerber’s Grow Up Plan from Gerber Life Insurance is a whole life insurance policy designed for children that offers lifelong coverage as long as the premiums are paid. 

Whole insurance — also known as permanent or traditional life insurance — is made to last the entirety of the insured person’s life as long as the premiums are paid. Term life insurance lasts for a specified time, such as 10 or 20 years, depending on the insurance company and the terms of the policy. 

You can compare life insurance plans online or call to speak with a licensed insurance agent who can help you compare free plan quotes and, if you find the plan you want, help you enroll over the phone or online.

What Is the Gerber Grow Up Plan? 

The Gerber Grow Up Plan is targeted to new parents and can be used to insure children as young as 14 days old. The plans last throughout adulthood, as long as the premiums are paid, and the rates never increase. The Gerber Grow Up Plan is designed to protect you from worst-case scenarios and provide a savings vehicle for college and other future expenses. 

Whole and term life insurance policies are designed to pay out a death benefit to the beneficiaries to use for funeral expenses. It provides financial support to the dependents or other listed beneficiaries after the death of the insured. The death proceeds can be used to help replace the loss of the insured’s income or caregiving skills. The following will help you understand what the Gerber Grow Up Plan is and find out if it's worth it. 

How Much Does the Gerber Grow Up Plan Cost — and Is It Worth It?

The Gerber Grow Up Plan coverages range from $5,000 to $50,000, and the maximum death benefit is $100,000. Premiums never increase, and coverage never decreases. The policy lasts forever, as long as premiums are paid. The coverage automatically doubles when the insured child turns 18 years old. T

he cost of Gerber Grow Up Plan varies with average premiums ranging from as low as $13 a month to $21 a month for a $20,000 benefit, depending on the age of the insured. A $40,000 policy ranges from $25 a month for a newborn to $40 a month for a 14-year-old.

What Does the Gerber Grow Up Plan Cover?

One of the biggest advantages to a Gerber Grow Up Plan is that as long as the locked-in premiums are paid, the rate never goes up during the life of the policy. The policy also promises: 

• Coverage automatically doubles at no extra cost when the child is 18 years old. For example, if you bought a $50,000 policy when your child was 1, it would double into a $100,000 policy for the same monthly payment. 
• Guaranteed right for your child to purchase additional coverage as an adult, regardless of your child’s health or occupation. The Gerber Grow Up Plan guarantees that your child can buy more life insurance coverage — up to 10 times the original policy amount — at the standard adult rates for their age at time of purchase.  And there are no medical exams and no questions.
• Builds cash value, which your adult child can borrow against for college or other big expenses some day in the future. You can also cash out of your policy and receive the accumulated cash value that has built up, minus any outstanding debt or charges against the plan.

Children’s Term Life Insurance Rider

The main financial expense incurred by the loss of a child is a funeral and burial costs. If you have a life insurance plan in place for yourself, you can generally add a child rider to your policy for less than what the Gerber Grow Up plan might cost. You can add a rider for a child, a stepchild or an adopted dependent who is at least 2 weeks old, up to 18 years of age.   

There’s minimal underwriting involved, and life insurance medical exams are not required. You don’t have to add the child rider to your policy until you have kids, and when you do add the rider, it covers all your children. It’s an inexpensive option — you can add a rider that gives you a $25,000 death benefit for as little as $11 per month. 

One key drawback to adding a child rider instead of buying the Gerber Grow Up Plan is that most insurance companies will limit the term to $25,000 or less per child. While that is enough to cover the $7,640 funeral and burial costs — the median cost, according to the National Funeral Directors Association — it may not cover any medical expenses or replace income for a parent who needs to take time off to grieve. 

Another factor to consider is the expense or limitations a child could face when it comes time to convert the rider to their own plan or to a permanent policy. The value of a policy that is converted can vary depending on different insurers and can range from $25,000 to five times the original amount, for a total of $100,000 in coverage.

Speak with a licensed insurance agent or compare plans online to find the right life insurance policy for you and your family's needs.