Is Life Insurance A Priority?

Question:  Is your family important to you?  If your answer is “YES”, do you have life insurance?  If your answer is “NO”, then what is the problem?  If the breadwinner or loved one in your family is to die too soon, what will your family do to pick up the pieces so that everything doesn’t go to hell in a handbag?  Who is in a position to come up with $10-12,000 to cover final expenses or will you have to do fish fry’s, chicken dinners and car washes to raise the money for your loved one?  What family member of yours is financially equipped to raise your children to the standard that you have them now?  The sad answer to this question is, many people don’t want to hear about it.  They think they have time.  Well, I am here to tell you (in the words of Michael Jackson), “Time waits for no one”.

Recently, I watched an episode of, “Keeping Up With the Khardasians” and Kris Jenner was pretty insistent on making sure that the family had their affairs in orders God forbid any of them were to pass away.  I immediately thought to myself, ‘I wonder how many people will take action, now that the “”Khardasians” have brought a national awareness to the table’.

Did you know, there are 68 million people who have no life insurance and those who do, many have the wrong type or not enough?  That isn’t coming from a biased perspective because I am a financial service representative with Primerica, that comes from getting out into the community and meeting people across their kitchen table to assess their needs.  What I have found is startling.

Here’s an example:

I recently met with a single dad of 6 who has $50,000 worth of life insurance for himself and each child is covered for $25,000.  His annual income is $32,000.  He pays $162 per month for all of his coverages.  The minute I looked at his existing policies, I knew he was underinsured.  That little bit of coverage would have lasted those 6 children 1-2 years (if that).  They would have been stuck.  And their caretakers would be left to figure out HOW they were going to manage the lives of 6 minors.  Once I educated this father on the “rules” and how life insurance works, his eyes were opened.  I was able to help provide him a quote for $300,000 to “replace” his income with a child rider of $20,000 (you pay for 1 child and it covers up to 10 children) and I saved him $14 in the process.  That’s right, 6times the amount of coverage for less than what he’s paying now.

I have come to realize that people will insure their cars because it’s the law, we obtain medical  insurance for our health because we don’t want to be unable to see a doctor if we’re sick, we’ll even buy home owners and renters  insurance because God forbid something happen to our belongings, but many people fail to see the benefit –  the urgency – of insuring their lives, protecting their income.  And the crazy part is, income protection isn’t for you.  It’s for those you leave behind when God says, “Well done…”

So…what is income protection?

1. Income protection is life insurance.  It’s the opportunity for you to make sure that you have money allocated to replace your income.  In the early years you’ll probably need a lot of  coverage to take care of  your young children, high debt and mortgage, in  the event of death.  Many people need a lot because they don’t have enough money saved.  If there is no income protection in place, guess what, whoever you leave behind has to figure it out.  They’ll have to find a way to make up the difference in income, which usually means either downsizing or getting a second or third job.
2. Income protection is looking at what you bring in annually and making sure that upon your death, your family still has that amount of money coming in, seeing as how that is the lifestyle you helped create for them.
3. Income protection is making sure that your family and the community at large are not selling chicken dinners, doing car washes and going door-to-door to make sure that you get buried while your bereaved tries to figure out life after.
4. Income protection is being responsible to make sure that whoever is left to care for your children (God forbid the parents are to die first), they would have enough to provide them with the quality of life you desire for them and not just assuming that THEY have the resources to take on your children financially.

Read: Social Security Still A Good Deal?

I love what I do.  I educate families with the truth and 3rd party information.  I make sure you understand how life insurance works.  We don’t just give quotes.  We assess your needs.  If you don’t have it I help you get it and explain HOW it works. Before I became a client with Primerica, I was in the same position as the gentleman described about…paying too much for too little.  If the representative (who happened to be my sorority sister) hadn’t walked through my front door, there’s no telling what would have happened.

Big up’s to Kris Khardasian for sharing her concern on television.

Until next time,

Ingrid