People often joke that life insurance is a bad bet, since one has to die to win.
That may be true, but really ALL insurance is simply a way to replace something you can’t afford or cannot replace by yourself. That’s why we have insurance on our homes, our cars and valuable things. We don’t want our house to burn down simply to collect the insurance money and we don’t want to have a car accident just to get a claim check… (except for criminals, perhaps)
I say no to extend warranties on the $100 gadgets I buy at the electronic store. I simply can afford to replace it. (I’m still upset when the thing breaks right after the warranty runs out)
Over 40 years, I have personally insured thousands of people. Although death claims are few,
I have still paid out many claims in those years, a lot of them for $1 million and more, at a time when it was most needed. I have truly seen the good and positive effect of a simple decision someone made years ago.
Over 20 years ago a husband and wife bought insurance to protect their family. Once the children were grown the husband still had to work into retirement years as saving wasn’t their major priority in life and as many seniors today they still had a small mortgage on their home. They needed coverage still, but the term policy was nearing its end. Even though his health was failing we were able to convert it to a permanent plan using an option in his policy.
A few years later in his early 70s the husband passed away leaving his wife a settlement amount that many would think was lot of money. But as I said they didn’t have a lot of savings. One of their children was living with them. Yes a 40-year-old, (sound familiar). I don’t think the wife had the claim check a month before the family was already into her for a good piece of it. She was a kind and loving mother who couldn’t say no. I knew that in a few years the money would be gone, and the husband rolling in his grave. So she agreed to sit down and listen to my advise to her.
- Pay off the remainder of her mortgage and any debts she had.
- Put some of the money aside in a savings account at the bank for emergencies and FOR YOURSELF ONLY. At retirement you cannot recover from bailing out your family.
- Take the rest of the money and put it in an annuity with an insurance company that will give you a guaranteed income for the rest of your life, and in the event of your death, any remainder of the funds would go to your beneficiaries.
She took my advice and now, combined with her Social Security benefits and the insurance benefit from the annuity she has a comfortable monthly income for life with no expenses and safety cash in the bank. Now when her children’s ask for money she can truly say here’s $20, it’s all I have on me to spare.
So that’s what we do, we help people. Maybe we can help you and your family.
Article by Patrick Williams