Your growing family needs income if something happens to you or your partner, because you both play important roles in the family that would cost money to have someone else fulfil.

Make sure you and/or your partner consider life insurance that can cover your mortgage and expenses if something happened to either of you, plus income protection if one or both of you couldn’t work.

It’s important not to forget the cost of the primary carer if they weren’t around and ensure you or your partner (whomever is doing that role in full or part) is covered.

A nanny would need to be paid for, or the other partner would need to stop work to care for the child or children. Who would do the shopping, prepare meals, clean and drive to health care appointments or school? These are all expenses that are commonly overlooked, as well as lifestyle changes that the secondary carer would have to make, if the primary carer wasn’t around.

If you’re planning on taking parental leave, here’s some practical information about what happens to your insurance cover when you’re away from work.

• Your life insurance cover (death, TPD and terminal illness) will remain in place, so long as you have enough money in the bank to pay your premiums.
• If you have income protection cover, you’ll need to check your cover, because the amount of time you’re on leave may impact your cover. For example, cover in super only continues if super payments are still being received from your employer.
• There can also be differences to your potential claims payment depending on whether you take paid or unpaid parental leave.
• You may wish to call a financial planner to make sure everything is in place, or your insurance or super provider.

The report showed that the most expensive budget items were housing costs, based on families paying average prices for rental accommodation in eastern metro cities, followed by food, household goods and services.