Like many young parents, actress and model Brooke Shields realized she needed life insurance at a moment when a lot of changes were happening in her life.
"The moment that I got pregnant was when I had [that moment],"she told Business Insider. "I was getting married, having children, and becoming responsible for someone else," and life insurance became critical.
Life insurance can help anyone who depends on your income to support themselves if you die unexpectedly, and help cover everything from living expenses to mortgage debt.
Suddenly, she realized that she'd be responsible for another person in ways she hadn't been before. Before her first baby was born, "the only other person I really had to take care of was my mother," said Shields, who is partnering with the nonprofit Life Happens to encourage Americans to get life insurance.
With a baby on the way, getting life insurance was critical to make sure that her future family would be provided for, no matter what.
Life insurance is important for all new parents, and it's easy to get covered
For parents with children depending on their income, or a spouse who needs help paying the bills, life insurance can help ensure those loved ones are covered in the event of an unexpected death.
Term life insurance policies are generally the most affordable type of life insurance. These policies cover people for a set number of years, generally between 15 and 30 years. Term policies are ideal for young parents, covering your family for enough time for kids to grow up, or pay off large debts like a mortgage or student loans.
According to data gathered by Business Insider, the average term life insurance policy costs $44 per month. It's cheaper the younger you are when you get the policy — the average person in their 30s pays about $16 per month for term life insurance coverage, while people in their 40s pay about $22 per month.
For Shields, buying a life insurance policy was a small price to pay to protect her new family. "People just want to live for today, but really, [life insurance] is just so affordable," she said.