From Piggy Bank to Legacy: How Just $150–$300 a Month Can Make Your Child a Millionaire by Retirement With Plenty Of Fun Along the Way
When we think of preparing our kids for the future, we often picture savings accounts, 529 college plans, or even custodial investment accounts. But there's a powerful, often-overlooked strategy that quietly builds wealth, provides lifelong security, and creates generational impact—all for less than the cost of your daily coffee run.
Enter the Indexed Universal Life Insurance policy (IUL): a modern financial tool that’s part protection, part investment, and all about securing your child’s future.
Let’s break down why more parents are starting IULs for their children—and how something as simple as $150 to $300 a month can set them up for life.
1. It Doesn’t Take Much to Start Building a Fortune
For as little as $150 to $300 a month, you can put your child on a path to millionaire status by the time they retire. And you don’t have to wait until they’re older—the earlier you start, the more powerful the compounding becomes.
Two of our favorite options for building generational wealth through IULs are:
F&G’s Pathsetter
AuguStar’s Prestige Indexed 10 or 20 Year
These policies each have their own strengths:
F&G Pathsetter
Built-in retirement income stream
Rapid cash value accumulation
Lifelong growth and protection
Example: For a policy covering a healthy 5-year-old girl contributing $300/month*:
Total contributions by 65 (no payments during retirement): $216,000
Cash value by retirement: $2.8+ million
Death benefit: Over $3.5 million
Annual income from ages 66–90: $307,907
AuguStar Prestige Indexed (10 or 20 year)
Flexible contribution schedule—done in just 10 or 20 years
Long-term growth after payment completion
Strong death benefit for loved ones
Example: For the same 5-year-old girl with $300/month*:
Stop paying at age 25—total contributions: $72,000
Cash value by retirement: $2+ million
Death benefit: $2.9 million
Imagine giving your child a million-dollar head start—without even touching six figures in contributions.
*For illustrative purposes only, the following projections are based on a healthy female beginning at age 5. Actual growth outcomes may vary depending on individual circumstances and numerous influencing factors.
Hypothetical Illustration
Based on historical trends- while specific growth rates aren’t guaranteed, these accounts never lose money, even when the market drops.
2. Accessible Cash Value: A High-Yielding Piggy Bank
IULs aren’t just about retirement. They build cash value you can access along the way, penalty-free and tax-advantaged, to help your child:
🏎️ Buy their first car- they can still learn the value of hard work by paying their own insurance if this is something important to your family, but this ensures their first car is safe and affordable- no clunkers that can be “Found On Road Dead” as used to be said of my old Ford Bronco- good times when it ran, but headaches when it didn’t (pre-cell phones days!)
🎓 Pay for college- don’t let them get saddled with student loan debt- not a great way to start off their adult life. If they choose not to attend college- this can pay for their “gap” year or help them get started in a new career- something you can’t do with a 529 savings without paying a 10% penalty fee and federal taxes on the money.
👰♀️Enjoy a Love Extravaganza or an epic Destination Wedding- all without touching your bank account because you were smart and set it all up when they were just a child!
🚵🗺️✈️ 🛍️🏖️ Dream vacation climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, rafting the Zambezi River, backpacking through Europe, sipping Mai Tais at the beach (you know you started dreaming of this life), scuba diving in the Maldives, shopping Rodeo Drive, or Central Park and Broadway Plays in NYC- whatever it is they will have the cash to do it with smart investing now that doesn’t break the bank in the process.
🏡Make a down payment on a first home- can you imagine not having to scrimp and save for years to own a home? Not having to throw away money on rent, enriching a landlord who refuses to come fix that leaky pipe? Your children will thank you for never having to experience this while their friends suffer- wishing they had parents as wise as you!
You can provide this for your children without needing high-interest loans or dipping into savings. It's like a smart piggy bank that grows every year, without the volatility of the stock market. It’s about creating a life rooted in freedom, family, and unforgettable memories—exactly what we want for the next generation.
3. Finding the Funds: Reallocate, Don’t Sacrifice
You don’t have to make more money to give your child a financial edge—you just need to reallocate it. Here's how many parents free up $150–$300 a month:
☕🥐Skip the daily café visit (Pro tip: Mix hot chocolate with your coffee at home for that mocha latte fix!)
🚭 Cut out smoking (health boost and wallet win)
🏋️ Replace the pricey gym or country club with park workouts or home routines
💰Consolidate streaming services—stick to one and ditch the rest
💰Cancel unused subscriptions and bundle where possible
📺Drop cable—embrace minimalism in entertainment
🍔Skip the fast food- it doesn’t taste that good anyway, and it’s usually unhealthy- cook at home and save!
🍕 Make your pizzas at home- healthy! Skipping the Dominos (or whoever you love- they are our go-to for comfort food in times of real crisis) saves on fees and tips (now I want Dominos 😂). We tallied up our Friday night pizza orders with tips and fees and realized we were spending about $200 a month on pizza, now we limit those orders to dire emergencies (shoot there’s nothing to cook for dinner, forgot to go to the store, and its raining- which means bigger tip). We enjoy making pizza ourselves- pizza dough, pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, pineapple, jalapenos (whatever the kids happen to want at the time) and its just as yummy and probably way healthier. Not as good as what we ate in Florence, Italy but it does the trick.
❤️When we talk ask me for pro tips on traveling to Italy with the family and how to save money while also having the adventure of a life time- it cost us less than $10K to stay in a villa in an old castle for 2 months, tour Florence and Pisa, hike all over Tuscany and the Apennines, and we spent a week in Ireland and Northern Ireland beforehand. Legendary Memories!
By making a few changes in your daily routine, you are giving your children a better financial future while also, potentially, building a healthier lifestyle.
4. No Exams, No Stress—And Locked-In Coverage for Life
When you open an IUL for a child, it’s quick, easy, and medically non-invasive. Since most children are in good health, they qualify for optimal rates and face no medical exams.
Best of all? If your child ever develops a medical condition later in life, their policy stays intact. They’ll have lifelong protection and access to funds—no re-qualification needed. That kind of peace of mind is priceless.
5. No-Lapse Guarantees: Sleep Soundly at Night
Many child IUL policies come with no-lapse guarantees—meaning the policy won’t just disappear if a payment is missed. If there's cash value, the minimal premium can be automatically drawn from it to keep the life insurance portion active.
Only if the policy owner stops paying and the cash value is depleted would the policy lapse. This gives parents a sense of control and security even through financial hiccups.
Final Thoughts: Give Them a Head Start, Not a Handout
When we invest in an IUL for our children, we’re not just buying life insurance—we’re planting seeds for a legacy. For the price of a latte and croissant a day, you can give your child:
Million-dollar retirement potential
Access to cash along the way
A lifetime of financial security
A death benefit that protects their own future family
A gift that keeps growing, long after you’ve made your last payment
It’s not just smart parenting. It’s visionary planning.
