"New baby, new mortgage, $150 a month." Here's how that usually goes.
With a new baby, a new mortgage, and a tight budget, the math almost always points to term life first. It buys the most protection per dollar during the exact years a young family is most exposed — and you can add permanent coverage later if it makes sense.
This is the most common conversation I have. A couple in their early thirties just bought a house in the Clermont area, there's a baby on the way or just arrived, and money is tight in the way it always is that first year. They've seen ads for policies that "build wealth," and they're wondering if they should stretch for one.
Here's roughly how I walk through it with them.
What are we actually protecting?
Two things dominate: the mortgage, and the years of income this family needs while the child is young. If one parent's paycheck vanished, the survivor shouldn't also lose the house. That's the whole job right now. It's a big need — often several hundred thousand dollars — with a clear end date, roughly the length of the mortgage and the child's dependent years.
Why term wins on $150 a month
A big need with an end date is exactly what term life is built for. For a healthy couple in their thirties, $150 a month usually buys a substantial amount of level term coverage — far more death benefit than the same money would buy in a permanent policy. A permanent policy at that budget would either carry a much smaller death benefit or be underfunded, which is the setup that fails later. Neither serves a young family that needs a large safety net today.
"But I heard permanent builds cash value"
It can — later, and with more premium than this family has to spare right now. Cash value in the early years of a permanent policy is thin, and stretching the budget to force it usually means buying too little death benefit. First job first: cover the mortgage and the income years. We can always revisit permanent options when the budget loosens up.
What I'd actually suggest here
Usually a level term policy long enough to cover the mortgage and get the kids independent — commonly 20 or 30 years — sized to replace income and clear the house. I'd also check whether the policy offers a conversion option, so if their situation changes later, they can move some or all of it to permanent coverage without new medical underwriting. That keeps the door open without paying for it today.
Then we set a reminder to revisit in a few years. Life changes. The plan should too.