The Financial Checklist Every Trinidad Parent Should Run

A father sat across from me last month and said something I still think about. "I have insurance. I just don't know if it's enough insurance." He had a policy, but he never ran the numbers to see if it would meet what his family actually needed.

That conversation is the reason for the checklist below. Six questions. Ten minutes. Run them against your own household before you keep reading.

Marcus and Keisha are a good example of why this matters. Marcus works Coast Guard, earning 28,000 a month. Keisha teaches Secondary School, earning 12,000 a month. They have one daughter, still in primary school, and a mortgage of 8,500 a month on a home worth 1.25 million. They also carry a car loan of 3,400 a month on a 2025 Hyundai Tucson, alongside an older vehicle that's paid off.

On paper, they look solid. Two incomes, steady jobs, a nice home. That's exactly the kind of household that assumes it's covered and never checks.

I ask every parent who sits down with me the same question, and I let them do the math themselves. If one of you died last night, a dual income household reduced to one, could the other one keep maintain the current standard of living for your child?

Do the math on Marcus and Keisha's numbers. If Keisha's income stops, what happens to that 8,500 mortgage on Marcus's 28,000 alone, once you factor in the car loan and everything else that doesn't pause. Now flip it. If Marcus's income stops, remember his salary is what qualified them for that mortgage in the first place. Run both scenarios. You'll know within a short while which one keeps you up at night.

I had a client two years ago, an accountant, whose husband passed suddenly. He'd worked private sector, no pension, and they'd never gotten around to reviewing his coverage since their second child was born. She kept the house for eleven months. Then she sold it and moved her kids in with her mother. Nothing about her family looked at risk before that.

It's not the struggling families who lose the most when something happens. It's the ones who built a life that only works if both incomes keep showing up.

Run this checklist against your own household:

• Do you know the exact monthly number your household needs if one income stopped today, not an estimate, the real number.
• Is your life insurance coverage tied to that number, or was it just a policy someone sold you years ago.
• If you or your spouse were diagnosed with a critical illness, could your household survive on one income while also paying medical costs.
• Do you have a will, and does it name a guardian for your child.
• Is there a dedicated fund for your child's education, separate from your general savings.
• Do you have three to six months of expenses set aside if income stopped suddenly.
• How many did you answer with a clear number instead of a guess.

What actually happens if you book a meeting

I don't come in with a product. I come in with questions, the same ones above, but about your household instead of Marcus and Keisha's. Your mortgage, your salaries, what actually comes in and goes out every month.

You'll do the same math you just did on paper, except with your real numbers. By the end, you'll have said out loud what your gap actually is, if there is one. That's not something I hand you. That's something you'll see for yourself once the numbers are in front of you. No pressure to decide anything that day.

Book a free consultation at daronjacobsfinancial.com

Daron Jacobs, RFC, FSCP

Senior Financial Advisor

Sagicor Life Insurance Trinidad and Tobago

1-868-759-8359