While children are a precious gift, they are also expensive. Children significantly affect your family finances long before you buy them a car or send them to college. Even before your child is born or adopted, you will likely purchase a crib, stroller, car seat, high chair. These accessories can easily cost more than $1,000.

You also need to consider the costs associated with prenatal doctor checkups and the cost of a hospital delivery. Ideally, you should check your maternity coverage before you become pregnant. If your health insurance does not cover maternity care, you will likely need to buy it. If you do have maternity coverage, you often must meet your deductible before expenses are covered.

Additionally, you should determine that you have health coverage for your baby. You can check with your health care provider to determine what is necessary to ensure your newborn is covered by your medical insurance immediately after birth.

If both you and your spouse carry individual health care coverage at work, you should compare the family and dependent benefits on each policy. Having dual dependent coverage from both parents’ health insurance can maximize your child’s benefits; however, it may not be affordable. You should also determine how your policy covers routine doctor visits after your child is born. Your insurance co-payments will play a vital role when budgeting pediatrician visits.

Another critical aspect of insurance to consider is life insurance coverage for both parents. Life insurance is an effective way to protect your family from the premature death of a parent that could affect the family’s standard of living. With life insurance, you can provide enough to help your family meet living expenses, pay the mortgage, and even provide a college fund for your children, should something happen. Term life insurance is generally preferred, as your need for life insurance will decrease as your children get older.

Because a 30-year-old is twice as likely to become disabled as to die, disability insurance is another important policy for a growing family. If either spouse were to become disabled, a disability policy can help minimize the risk of running into debt while you are unable to work.

Next week I’ll take a closer look at why life and disability insurance coverage are important for both the breadwinner and the stay-at-home parent. I’ll also explain how to calculate how much to purchase.

William G. Lako Jr., CFP, is an executive in residence at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business and a principal at Henssler Financial. Lako is a certified financial planner.The MDJ will periodically publish columns from KSU business faculty.