September Life Insurance Awareness Month
In my humble opinion everyone should have life insurance. My husband and I lived the nightmare of his mother passing without any in 2013. It actually became our “why” to start our new careers in the insurance world, nearly seven years ago. We want to make sure that every client we encounter is covered with the correct type of insurance to meet their needs. In our culture we seem to have a month for many different causes and I’m glad insurance now has a “month”. September is also my birthday month and I am happy to share it with LIAM! You can follow on social media using #LIAM19.
The largest part of my job is education. Insurance is confusing. I didn’t understand anything about it until I got trained and licensed. I still take part in many refresher classes and continuing education. Life insurance is the third largest expense for a family. A study done by Life Happens and LIMRA found that one in three households would have trouble paying living expenses if the primary breadwinner died. The study also found 40% of those people have not bought anything because they are unsure of how much and what kind to purchase. Those numbers are alarmingly astounding to me as a mother to four children under ten. We have protection in place for our family. If something dire happened to one or both of us there will be no financial burdens left behind to anyone. We have also ensured there are plenty of additional funds to take care of our children. When I am working with peers who have young children I always want to stress the importance of income replacement if a spouse dies.
One of the largest misunderstandings about insurance is the cost. It is based on age, health and type of coverage. I am a huge proponent that something is better than nothing. We know that most people are on a fixed income, especially in the senior market. Get what you can afford now knowing that you can add more coverage in the future. “More than 50% of Americans think life insurance costs 3x more than it does”, according to Foresters, a top rated carrier in the insurance industry. (www.foresters.com)
Lifehappens.org is an educational movement to teach people about the dangers and realities of not being protected. There are many reasons people want or need insurance. My first question when I am sitting down with a client is to find out their why. What is the purpose of this insurance? Who is the beneficiary? Why do you need that amount? You need to know the answers to these very important questions. First and foremost you want to identify if the client has considered all of the ramifications of not having insurance. Another recommendation is to work with an agent who is a broker for many different carriers. They have the ability to shop for you and truly find you the best rate that will be customized to your situation. If you work with someone who only represents one company they don’t have options and often times can not offer you the best pricing.
So what are you waiting for….the time is NOW. Please do not put it off or procrastinate. Life happens every day and the unexpected occurs. Don’t fail to plan. You want to leave a legacy for your family not a burden. Your family should be able to grieve in peace and share happy memories without concern for final expenses.
