Telling someone you care about them is one thing. Showing them you care, or cared, can be significantly different. This month, I’d like to touch upon the public’s least favorite financially related subject: LIFE INSURANCE.
How much a life is worth depends on what that person’s role is. In a business, the CEO’s visionary ability and team building skills could be worth billions of dollars…just ask Apple Incorporated’s board of directors. In a household where one spouse works and the other does everything else for the kids, the home, meals, transportation, and coordinating, each parent could have a lifetime value in the millions.
Life insurance has been used in societies since Ancient Romans organized “burial clubs.” Two thousand years ago, responsible family members realized their income, production, or contribution to society would not continue to benefit their families if they were not alive to provide for them. Even then, amidst barbarian wars with Germany, plagues, viral outbreaks, and no safety guards on their cutting tools (yes, I’m joking), responsible people joined these primitive clubs to provide a benefit to their families upon their death.
Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, established in 1706, was the first life insurance company in the world.
By contrast, modern-day life insurance started in London in 1706 and introduced the concept of a premium payment, or the cost, to be commensurate with age, health, and risk. Recognizing that additional benefits (called riders) could be attached to life insurance policies, today’s insurance companies now offer policies with living benefits such as cash accumulation and long-term care riders to benefit the insured while alive, in addition to the beneficiaries at time of death.
With advancements in health care mitigating and/or even eliminating diseases and conditions once deemed fatal, life insurance companies can offer coverage to virtually everyone, with the exception typically being those with a terminal or serious illness. Underwriters and actuaries recognize how medical advances have helped people to live longer and stronger lives, and this is reflected through improved morbidity and mortality charts showing longer life projections. This has led to a price drop in premiums (aka: the cost of purchasing insurance) over the last few decades due to increased life expectancy on society as a whole.
If you or a family member has ever considered the purchase of a life insurance policy but don’t have the slightest idea where to begin, you’re not alone. According to the ‘2018 Insurance Barometer Study, by Life Happens and LIMRA’ report, more than 40-percent of Americans DO NOT have any life insurance coverage. With today’s ease of receiving quotes from numerous insurance carriers in a matter of seconds, finding the appropriate amount, and type, of coverage is simple. And when working with an expert versed in life insurance, the process can be easy too.
Statue of a mother at Yasukuni Shrine, dedicated to war widows who raised their children alone.
Let us know how we can help. The process of seeking out insurance on your own can bring more questions than answers, and many frustrated people throw up their hands in frustration…never completing the process. We will make it easy AND affordable enough to fit into your financial plan.
The last thing we want to hear about is another surviving spouse with kids left holding a love note and some pictures instead of a very large check to pay the bills and keep the lights on for the next several years. Now that’s showing the ultimate responsibility! Call us today to discuss.