Happy Mother's Day to all the moms holding it together for everyone else this weekend. Before you read another word: this isn't a sales post. It's a 5-minute reminder.
Today, while you're celebrating the people who built you and the people who depend on you, take a few minutes to ask the only insurance question that actually matters on Mother's Day:
If something happened to me tomorrow, would the people I love be okay financially?
For more than half of American families, the honest answer is no.
The number that should bother you
LIMRA's 2025 Insurance Barometer Study found that 42 percent of US adults say their family would face financial hardship within six months if a primary wage earner died. For households with kids under 18, that number jumps to 53 percent.
That's not a small problem. That's the majority of American families one bad week away from financial collapse.
And it's not because life insurance is expensive. It's because most people overestimate the cost by 3-5x and never get around to checking.
What term life actually costs in 2026
Here are real numbers from carriers we appoint with this week, for a healthy non-smoker in good health:
— 35-year-old female, $500,000 / 20-year term:
$22-$32 per month
— 40-year-old female, $500,000 / 20-year term: $32-$45 per month
— 45-year-old female, $500,000 / 20-year term: $58-$80 per month
— 35-year-old male, $500,000 / 20-year term: $28-$42 per month
Less than what you spend on streaming services. Less than the gym membership you're not using. Less than three coffee runs.
The 30-minute coverage gap audit
Here's the entire conversation, no jargon. Pull up a notepad.
Step 1: Add up what your family would need to replace.
— Mortgage balance (need to pay off so they can stay in the house)
— 5-10 years of your income (so the surviving partner has time to adjust without panic-selling assets)
— Final expenses ($10,000-$15,000 for funeral and settling estate)
— Kids' college if you want that covered (rough rule: $100,000 per kid for in-state public, more for private)
— Outstanding debt (car loans, credit cards, student loans)
Add it up. That's your number.
Step 2: Subtract what you already have.
— Existing life insurance (personal policies AND your spouse's)
— Group life through your employer (usually 1x or 2x salary, sometimes more — check your benefits portal)
— Liquid savings and retirement accounts (estimate what your family could actually access without tax penalties)
Step 3: The gap is what you need to buy.
For most working-age parents in DFW, the gap runs $500,000 to $1.5 million. Sounds enormous until you see the monthly cost above. A $750,000 / 20-year term policy on a healthy 38-year-old runs roughly $35-$50 per month.
Why employer group life is not enough by itself
Three reasons every CSR I know hammers on:
1. It usually disappears the day you leave the job. Most group life is non-portable. Layoff, career change, retirement — coverage ends. The day you can't get it is usually the day you need it most.
2. The amount is too small. Most group plans cap at 1-2x salary. If you make $80,000 and your group life is $160,000, that covers maybe 18 months of replacement income. After that, your family is on their own.
3. You don't control it. Employers can change the plan, drop the carrier, or reduce the benefit. You wake up one morning with less coverage than you thought.
Group life is great as a supplement. It's a disaster as a primary plan.
Term vs whole life — the short version
For most parents reading this on Mother's Day, the answer is term, and it isn't close.
Term life pays a death benefit if you die during a set period (10, 15, 20, or 30 years), then expires. It's cheap because most people don't die during the term — the carrier is pricing the actual probability.
Whole life is permanent and includes a cash value component. It's typically 8-12x the cost of equivalent term coverage. There are specific use cases (estate planning for high net worth, business buy-sell agreements, certain special-needs planning) where whole life makes sense. For 95 percent of parents needing income-replacement coverage, term wins.
If a salesperson tries to push you into whole life as your primary policy without explaining why term won't work for your situation, get a second opinion.
The Mother's Day move
Three ways to handle this in the next 7 days:
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Already have coverage? Pull the dec page out and verify (a) the amount, (b) the term length, (c) when it expires. If your kids are 8 and your 20-year term runs out in 5 years, you have a problem to solve before they hit college.
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No coverage or unsure? Call or text us at
(800) 666-2254. A free 15-minute review tells you exactly where you stand and what closing the gap costs. No pressure, no obligation, just the math.
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Spouse is the primary earner and you're the at-home parent? Same audit applies in reverse. Childcare, household management, and the labor of running a family is replaceable only with money. Most stay-at-home parents are dramatically underinsured.
Don't let another year pass without checking. Today is the day.
To every mom reading this: thank you for everything you do. Have a Happy Mother's Day. Then take 15 minutes this week and protect the people who depend on you.
Ready for a free life insurance review? Call (800) 666-2254.
