DR. WALLACE: I'm 20 and my husband is 22. We are expecting our first child this coming summer. Needless to say, I'm excited on so many levels, but my husband, although he's quite enthusiastic about starting a family, has a very practical and methodical side to him.

I wasn't surprised the other day when he sat me down and told me that he felt we needed a life insurance policy on him. He has a decent job; he works full-time and I dabble with a home-based business that is just slowly starting to become profitable.

Do you feel he's being overly concerned about the topic of life insurance at our young ages? The odds of anything being wrong with either one of us are extremely small. I could understand it better if we were 20 years older than we are, but the cost of a life insurance policy at our ages seems frivolous to me.

Are you more inclined to decide with my philosophy or his on this topic? — He Always Wants to Plan Ahead, via email

HE ALWAYS WANTS TO PLAN AHEAD: Congratulations on marrying such a practical young man. His concern for you and his soon-to-be-born first child are both prudent and exemplary.

The whole purpose of life insurance is to simply guard against a financial catastrophe occurring to any individual or group of individuals. You are quite correct that the odds are extremely low that anything would happen to the two of you in the foreseeable future, but planning and ensuring a nest egg to be available to you and your child demonstrates wisdom on his part.

Yes, such a policy will cost you some money, but at your present ages, it should be reasonable if the two of you shop around — and something tells me he will be the type to find the right deal! These days, especially at your present ages, it shouldn't be too hard to find coverage that may not even require a medical exam on your part.

Having such a policy would protect his income stream for you if it's ever needed. Some employers do provide life insurance policies, although some of them may be on the moderate side and require additional insurance to fully reach the coverage that is needed to protect a growing family such as yours.

I WANT TO CREATE AND KEEP AN ENCAPSULATED SECRET

DR. WALLACE: As a female who is a senior in high school, I'm starting to feel closer and closer to becoming an adult. This has me thinking in bolder ways than I ever have.

I secretly want to take a particular type of action soon, which I will aim to not share with anyone, especially my high-visibility parents who are well known in our town, and even my close friends and siblings.

I won't share here what I plan to do, but I can put your mind at ease by telling you that it is not illegal or immoral, it's just something that would cause my family consternation if they were to find out about it. For that reason, I know that if I do move forward, I can't even tell my closest friends because my secret could become exposed.

What do you think about this? Is it ok for me to keep a secret, especially if I'm the only one who's aware of it? — I'll Never Tell Anyone, via email

I'LL NEVER TELL ANYONE: Your provocative email is interesting and of course, has me wondering what you may be contemplating. However, I realize it's fruitless for me to attempt to guess at whatever you're thinking about, but I can tell you that you may be biting off more than you initially realize if you follow through

This topic will always be in the back of your mind, and you may discover the urge at some point to tell someone you trust, explicitly, or someone you randomly meet out of your area, that you feel would have no connection back to you.

I can also tell you this: Most people would agree with collective anecdotal evidence that over 90% of all secrets eventually become exposed. If what you're contemplating would truly stagger your family or disrupt its harmony, that may weigh heavily on you for much longer than you presently realize. Why not take some time to think this over carefully and see how you feel about it months or even years down the road? Just going through the exercise of contemplating it may be satiating enough for you if you think about it from a practical point of view.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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