Overall, the Gerber Grow Up Plan is a good children’s life insurance policy, but it’s by no means the best option. Companies such as Mutual of Omaha and Globe Life offer the same type of coverage at a much lower cost.
Now, Gerber Life does double the coverage amount when the child turns 18, and this is not a benefit that other companies usually provide. However, due to Gerber’s much higher cost, this “benefit” is generally not worth paying the higher premiums.
- It can be bought entirely online without speaking to an agent.
- The death benefit doubles when the child turns 18.
- Comes with a guaranteed insurability rider that allows the children to buy more coverage as adults without having to qualify for it.
- The cost is about twice as much as what other companies, such as Mutual of Omaha, charge.
- Ownership is automatically transferred to the children when they turn 25. Other providers give the option to transfer ownership, but don’t do so automatically.
- The marketing for this policy is very misleading about its potential usefulness in paying for college expenses.
AM Best’s Financial Strength Rating (FSR) is an independent opinion of an insurer’s financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations. The scores range from A++ to D-.
Moody’s Investors Service rates the creditworthiness of companies. The Moody’s Rating Scale has 21 possible scores ranging from “Aaa” (highest mark) down to “C” (lowest mark).
S&P Global Inc. issues credit ratings on a scale from “AAA” (highest rating) to “D” (lowest rating).
The Complaint Index compares a company’s performance to other companies in the market. The National Complaint Index is always 1.00. That means a company with a complaint index of 2.00 is twice as high as expected in the market. Reported scores are for the most recently available year and for “Individual Life” products.
The BBB rating is based on information BBB is able to obtain about the business, including complaints received from the public. BBB seeks and uses information directly from businesses and from public data sources. BBB assigns ratings from A+ (highest) to F (lowest). If a business has been accredited by the BBB, it means BBB has determined that the business meets accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints.
How Does The Gerber Life Grow-Up ® Plan Work?
The Gerber Grow-Up ® Plan is a whole life insurance policy for children ages 0-14. The premium rates never increase, coverage never decreases, and the policy lasts forever. The death benefit will automatically double once the child turns 18 (the monthly premium will remain the same).
Because it’s a whole life policy, it also builds up a savings account called “cash value.” Every time you make your premium payments, a portion is allocated to the cash value account. The policyholder may withdraw the money from this account at any time they want. You can use the money on college expenses or anything you desire.
Every Grow-Up policy comes with two free riders:
- Guaranteed Insurability: The guaranteed option to buy coverage later in life that is not subject to underwriting approval. The additional coverage can be purchased when the insured children reach ages 21, 25, 30, 35, and 40, when they get married, or have a child.
- Payment Protection: Payments will be waived until the child is 21 if the policy owner dies or becomes totally disabled.
If the child should pass away while the policy is in force, Gerber Life Insurance Company will pay out the death benefit in the form of a tax-free cash payment.
That money can be spent on anything.
When the child turns 21, they automatically become the policy owner. At that point, they can then choose to continue the policy and take over the payments.
Alternatively, they can surrender the policy and receive the total cash value that has built up.
Gerber Life Grow-Up ® Plan Cost Comparison
The primary downfall of the Grow-Up life insurance plan is the cost. It’s essentially double the price compared to companies like Mutual of Omaha and Globe Life. In the table below, you can see the monthly cost of Gerber’s child policy compared to Mutual of Omaha.
| AGE | Gerber $50,000 | Mutual of Omaha $50,000 |
|---|---|---|
| <1 | $35.53 | $19.04 |
| 1 | $36.63 | $19.04 |
| 2 | $37.94 | $19.04 |
| 3 | $39.22 | $19.04 |
| 4 | $40.66 | $19.04 |
| 5 | $42.43 | $23.17 |
| 6 | $43.98 | $23.17 |
| 7 | $45.82 | $23.17 |
| 8 | $47.57 | $23.17 |
| 9 | $49.49 | $23.17 |
| 10 | $51.34 | $26.75 |
| 11 | $53.48 | $26.75 |
| 12 | $55.47 | $26.75 |
| 13 | $57.66 | $26.75 |
| 14 | $59.79 | $26.75 |
| Source for Mutual of Omaha monthly prices: Choice Mutual child quote calculator. Source for Gerber Life monthly prices: Gerber rate card (prices shown are for all states except CA & FL). All rates are valid as of 09/15/2025. | ||
Coverage That Doubles At 18
No Gerber Grow-Up Plan review would be complete without discussing how the death benefit doubles when the child becomes 18. When the coverage doubles, the premium remains the same.
For example, if you have $10,000 in child life insurance coverage to start, it will become $20,000 when they turn 18.
How To Buy The Grow-Up ® Plan
Like most life insurance products, the Gerber Grow Up Plan has a qualification component.
The children don’t have to undergo a medical exam, and you won’t need to provide their medical records. However, the following two health questions (about them) must be answered:
- Were any of the children born prematurely or with abnormalities at birth diagnosed by a medical professional? (Skip this question if children are more than 1 year old)
- Within the past five years, have any of the children listed above been treated or diagnosed by a physician for: respiratory disorder, heart disease or disorder, mental disease or disorder, or any other impairments or diseases?
Like most Gerber Life insurance products, you can buy the Grow Up Plan online, through the mail, or by calling them.
Parents, stepparents, legal guardians (you’ll need to provide guardianship paperwork), grandparents, or great-grandparents can buy this coverage for a child.
Gerber Life does not require grandparents to seek permission from their grandchildren’s parents when buying the policy. The grandparent can 100% do it on their own.
Is The Grow-Up ® Plan Worth It?
The Gerber Life Insurance Grow-Up Plan is absolutely a worthwhile investment. You would have peace of mind knowing that if your children or grandchildren were to die, it would provide financial protection to cover their final expenses. It would likely also allow you and your loved ones to take time off work to grieve such a tragic event.
Additionally, the insured children will have the guaranteed option to purchase additional life insurance later in life, even if they are in poor health.
That all said, if you’re looking for life insurance for your grandchildren or your own kids, Gerber Life Insurance Company shouldn’t be your first choice for a policy.
You can get the same type of life insurance for a child for much less money from other insurance providers like Mutual of Omaha or Globe Life. Although Gerber doubles the coverage at age 18, this doesn’t justify the fact that they charge roughly twice as much as other companies, such as Mutual of Omaha.
Gerber Young Adult Life Insurance Plans
The Gerber young adult plan is for children aged 15-17. It’s essentially identical to the Grow-Up Plan.
It’s still whole life insurance, and the coverage will double once they turn 18.
The primary difference between the young adult and the Grow-Up Plan is that it includes more than two health questions to answer, and it’s not available in New York.
The other difference is that you must call Gerber to apply for the young adult plan. You cannot buy it online or through the mail.
Gerber Life College Plan
The Gerber College Plan differs from most college savings plans (like a 529 plan). It’s an endowment life insurance policy with fixed premiums and builds cash value at a guaranteed rate of return. You choose how much coverage you want ($10,000-$150,000) and how long you want to pay (10-20 years).
Gerber will pay out the death benefit if the child dies while the policy is in force. However, if the child is still alive after you’ve made all your payments, they will payout the guaranteed payout amount.
Unlike 529 plans, the Gerber College Plan funds can technically be used for anything. View a sample Gerber College plan policy for complete details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately, Gerber does not provide preliminary cash value charts for illustration purposes. Once you buy the coverage, your policy will show you the cash value accumulation over time.
If your goal is to help your child or grandchild pay for their college expenses, the Gerber Grow-Up plan is a terrible way to do so. The cash value that accumulates is incredibly meager. For example, a $50,000 policy for a five-year-old will cost $42.43 monthly. That means annually you’ll pay a total of $509.16 in premiums. Even if 100% of your premiums were credited towards the cash value (it’s closer to 50%), that means your child would have a total of $6,619.08 when they turn 18.
Again, that illustration assumes all premiums go towards the cash value, which is not the case. But even if that were true, $6,600 towards college expenses 13 years in the future is hardly going to make a dent. The bottom line is this: If you want to help pay for your kids’ college expenses, the Grow-Up plan is not a good financial product to do so. Instead, consider consulting a financial advisor who can help you purchase genuine investment products that will actually help cover their college expenses.
At any point, you can cash in your policy and receive whatever cash value you’ve accumulated.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 15 years of experience
- Personal annual production that puts him in the top .001% out of all life insurance agents in the nation.
Anthony Martin is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 15 years of experience and has personally served over 10,000 clients with their life insurance needs. He frequently authors entrepreneurial and life insurance content for Forbes, Inc.com, Newsweek, Kiplinger, and Entreprenuer.com. Anthony has been consulted as an expert life insurance source for dozens of high-profile websites such as Forbes, Bankrate, Reuters, Fox Business, CNBC, Investopedia, Insurance.com, Yahoo Finance, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 19 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 19 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 14 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 14 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 15,000 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest Youtube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 19 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 19 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 14 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 14 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 15,000 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest Youtube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
Choice Mutual often cites third-party websites to provide context and verification for specific claims made in our work. We only link to authoritative websites that provide accurate information. You can learn more about our editorial standards, which guide our mission of delivering factual and impartial content.
-
Gerber Grow-Up ® Plan. https://www.gerberlife.com/child-life-insurance/grow-up-plan
-
cash value. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cash-value-life-insurance.asp
-
young adult plan. https://www.gerberlife.com/child-life-insurance/grow-up-plan/young-adult-life-insurance
-
Gerber College Plan. https://www.gerberlife.com/saving-for-college/college-plan
-
A.M. Best. https://ratings.ambest.com/CompanyProfile.aspx?BL=0&ambnum=7299&AltNum=14937299&AltSrc=3
-
BBB. https://www.bbb.org/us/mi/fremont/profile/life-insurance/gerber-life-insurance-company-0372-15002380
-
Trustpilot. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.gerberlife.com
-
Google. https://www.google.com/search?q=gerber+life+fremont+MI&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=9267af3241730e66&sca_upv=1&ei=VOKsZqenD8WlkPIPxK-GwQU&ved=0ahUKEwinoYiEuNaHAxXFEkQIHcSXIVgQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=gerber+life+fremont+MI&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiFmdlcmJlciBsaWZlIGZyZW1vbnQgTUkyCxAuGIAEGMcBGK8BMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjILEAAYgAQYhgMYigUyCxAAGIAEGIYDGIoFMgsQABiABBiGAxiKBTILEAAYgAQYhgMYigUyCBAAGIAEGKIEMggQABiABBiiBEj8ElDGBFiVEXABeAGQAQCYAY0BoAGeCKoBAzUuNbgBA8gBAPgBAZgCC6ACwgjCAgoQABiwAxjWBBhHwgILEAAYgAQYkQIYigXCAgUQABiABJgDAIgGAZAGCJIHAzMuOKAHrVU&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#lrd=0x881940eb19895789:0xb568aa499238f0b,1,,,,
-
Yelp. https://www.yelp.com/biz/gerber-life-insurance-company-fremont
-
NAIC Complaint Index. https://content.naic.org/cis_refined_results.htm?TABLEAU=CIS_COMPLAINTS&COCODE=70939&REALM=PROD&COCODE=70939&REALM=PROD
-
BBB Score & Accreditation. https://www.bbb.org/us/mi/fremont/profile/life-insurance/gerber-life-insurance-company-0372-15002380
