Caregivers Want to Leave Money for Heirs: Prudential

One reason for life insurance agents to support caregivers is that caregivers may be unusually motivated prospects for life insurance.

Analysts at Prudential Financial Inc. have raised that possibility with a new cut of data from a survey of 3,013 U.S. adults ages 25 to 70.

The analysts pulled out the data for the 710 survey participants who reported providing care for a child with special needs or for an adult loved one.

The analysts found that caregivers caring for children with special needs had low confidence about their ability to meet financial goals.

But the analysts found that caregivers reported having ambitious goals for caring for children, and others in future generations, by transferring wealth.

Only about 30% of non-caregivers described providing college tuition for their children as an important financial goal, and only about 25% said they wanted to help children with a down payment for a home, or leave a large inheritance to their heirs.

The caregivers in the sample were much more interested in passing on financial support.

About 50% said they want to provide college tuition for their children, and about 40% said they want to help children with down payment expenses.

Roughly 35% said they would like to leave a large inheritance to their heirs.

Caregivers were somewhat more likely than other survey participants to have personal debt unrelated to housing, cars or college expenses.

But the caregivers were more likely to own mutual funds, individual stocks and bonds, disability insurance, education investment or savings accounts, long-term care insurance and critical illness insurance, according to Prudential analysts.

The analysts did not provide any data on whether the caregivers were more likely to have life insurance.

What This Means for Agents

Some caregivers may be spending too much on disability insurance, long-term care insurance and caregiving to for more life insurance, but, if the Prudential caregiver survey figures are correct, some caregivers might welcome advice from financial professionals on how to use life insurance to leave their heirs more money.

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