I'm 22, perfect health, one child: What do I need to know to get a good life insurance policy?

My son is a special needs child, and if anything were to happen to me, I would want my family to have a way to provide for him. I am just wondering what sort of life insurance policies are out there and where should I start looking?|||Life insurance is a good thing for you to get in case something happens to you.





The cheapest policy is a term policy with level payments for a certain amount of year, such as 30 years with level payments.





The beneficiary part is what is the most important part of the policy. If your son is special needs you need a "Special Needs Trust". You can do it yourself or have an attorney or financial advisor do it for you. This way the money is spent in a certain way for your child.|||I'm responding from a point of view of a mother -





When I was considering insurance for my child, I took care to select policies do not overly burden my child when my child is older and paying for the insurance - e.g. policies that I can pay up in 10 years (but cover my child for life), or policies that require my child to pay a small sum (like $100 per year but be covered for life kind of thing).





My parents bought me policies years ago, and when I took over them in my 20s, I realized these policies require me to pay a considerable sum (to the tune of $3000 per year) for the rest of my life - this is something I wanted to avoid at all costs for my child.|||Well, you start out by setting a concrete goal - what you want the policy to do for you.





Then, you have to compare the cost of the coverage, with what your money is worth, if you could invest it on your own.





Many times, with a special needs child, you are going to want that policy in force your entire life, because that child will ALWAYS need care. If that's the case, you want to purchase whole life insurance.





If you think you're going to earn enough to be able to stockpile significant assets on your own, or (horrible to say, but it has to be said) if your child has a terminal disability like cystic fibrosis, then you probably only need a 20 year term life insurance policy.





The first place to start, is by defining your need, and defining how long you're going to HAVE that need.