Why You Can’t Wait


“But I can’t afford life insurance…”

These are words that we hear often in the business we’re in. Folks just can’t seem to see their way clear to spend a few dollars every month to protect their loved ones. But I wonder just how expensive life insurance is when compared to the alternative. Let’s talk, shall we?

“But my kids will look after my burial when I’m gone.”

Statistically, we all die eventually. Insurance of any type isn’t about insuring the inevitable, it’s about insuring against the unexpected. If we knew exactly when the house fire would happen, we could strategically save for that inevitability, so that the day after it happens, we’re financially prepared for it. Or better still, we could avoid the whole experience by NOT lighting the candle in the first place. As for life insurance, if we knew the date of our death, we could simply save for it. Our children would then be financially ready for the big day. Here’s the thing: we rarely perish when we expect to. We’re rarely ready for it. Our kids are rarely in a position to simply find the cash in the sock drawer for that funeral.
“I have money in the bank, so my children will be fine.”

While we’re talking about the readiness of our children, it’s NOT just the funeral we need to think about. There’s been a story in the local news lately about a young man who recently lost his mother. I don’t think she was expecting to die when she did, as evidenced by the fact that her municipal property taxes were a little in arrears. Granted, the young man did receive a house from the estate of his mom, but he wasn’t ready to pay the back taxes required by the municipality to keep it. Our hearts go out to the young fellow. It’s not fair what he’s going through.

“I’ll get life insurance later, when I’m older.”

If only she had purchased life insurance. The death benefit would have been paid out, tax-free, to her surviving child, and he could have happily used that money to settle the tax bill. He might have even been able to replace the roof or windows or any other maintenance item that had been put off.

“I don’t want to be worth more dead than alive.”

Life insurance death benefits rarely make the survivors rich like you see in the movies, and they certainly cannot bring our loved ones back. But a well-tailored life insurance program can make the mourning process about just that – mourning the loss of you, instead of a financial crap-storm. So before you categorically dismiss the idea of life insurance, talk to a licensed life insurance agent. It’s probably a better value than you realize.

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