Case Study: A Cancer Diagnosis That Sped Things Up

Here’s a case about a couple that will always make my ‘Favorite people to work with’ list.?

It’s a long one, so get comfortable and let’s dive in: Ishtar and Kader have been clients of mine since 2008.?

Back then too, they were in well-paying corporate jobs, and it’s only gotten better over the years.?

Both born and raised in Pakistan, from affluent, well-educated families, they ventured abroad to study and work. They made Dubai their home in their 30s. But the goal was always to go back someday and retire in Pakistan, close to family.?

In line with this, over the years, Ishtar and Kader invested in off-shore savings and investment portfolios, but they also continued to procure property back in Pakistan – high-demand homes in elite communities that they knew would appreciate over time.

Their Estate?

The properties did in fact appreciate, but as with most people invested in the Indian subcontinent – the currency devaluation over the last decade or so didn’t bode so well for them.?

Apart from that one piece not going according to plan, however, Ishtar and Kader have done very well with their money.?

They have well-structured savings and investment plans in place, Life Insurance in both of their names, leaving significant sums behind for each other and their two sons.?

They were mindfully growing the estate they wanted to leave behind, and they were consistently adding to these pots.??

Over the years, Kader has put in place US$2 million of Universal Life Insurance cover and added another $2 million later. He also has US$ 800,000 in Critical Illness cover.?

Ishtar had purchased US$ 900,000 of Life Insurance, and US$ 400,000 in Critical Illness Cover.?

The goal for the Critical Illness cover was, of course, straightforward: To pay out should illness strike either of them.?

And the Life Insurance policies were put in place to ensure that their two sons, both born and raised in the UAE, holders of British and American passports respectively, would have access to the proceeds from these policies payable in a currency of their choice anywhere in the world.

So, Ishtar and Kader have property in Pakistan, the UAE, the UK, Life Insurance,? Critical Illness policies, and a healthy investment portfolio apart from the property, too.?

In addition to this, when Kader chooses to step down from his job, he would also stand to receive a hefty End-of-Service package from his company after over 20 years of service to them. All in all: All was good.??

The Challenge?

Ah, here comes the plot twist.?

Shortly after Ishtar’s 50th birthday, I reached out to her to share a few recommendations pending our standard periodic reviews of our client’s financial plans and goals.?

Her Critical Illness and Life Insurance plans could use a bump up in amount, and could certainly use an extension.?

Her Critical Illness cover was due to expire at age 58 and her Life Insurance cover was due to expire at age 65.?

I suggested we apply to extend the timeline on both these policies and get an additional US$ 5 million of Universal Life Cover in place for her. Ishtar agreed and went through with her medicals.?

We applied to one insurer with Critical Illness and to another insurer without Critical Illness – just Life Insurance.?

She was offered US$ 5 million worth of Life Insurance coverage from that second insurer.?

The first insurer came back with a few questions about her blood work.?

Ishtar decided to hold off on the Life Insurance cover until they had sold off their property in Pakistan (a process that was underway). She planned on using the proceeds from the property sale to fund the additional Life Insurance cover. But as fate would have it, shortly after this offer was on the table, Ishtar was diagnosed with breast cancer. Early stage, completely treatable, and no death risk. But cancer, all the same.?

This changed everything. Ishtar's offer from the insurer that had offered her a standalone Life Insurance policy (without Critical Illness) was valid for another 20 days after this diagnosis, and she had no legal obligation to disclose any new findings to the Insurer at this point. She acted fast. Ishtar and Kader moved a few funds around and swiftly put that US$5 million policy in place. Once this was in place, we proceeded to get her previous Critical Illness policy to pay out since she had been diagnosed with cancer.?

That claim was settled within a few days time.?

She’s using the sum that she receives as Critical Illness cover to further pour into the premiums for that US$ 5 million Universal Life Cover.?

Key Takeaways?

Your takeaway? Please don’t sit around and wait for the perfect time to buy Life Insurance.

Don’t wait for a wake up call either.

Your window to procure a financial safety net for your loved ones after you are gone is a finite window. Every day, your Life Insurance policy gets more and more expensive.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record here, I must point out that had Ishtar waited or procrastinated on getting those medicals in place, had she waited to go through with the application, that offer would not have been on the table when she got her cancer diagnosis.?

The bigger risk is what could have happened to Ishtar here: You could be rendered uninsurable if disease strikes.

In complete transparency, Ishtar has not been declared uninsurable. Her cancer has been caught early and is fully treatable. She purchased this policy because this might be, it could be, her last shot at getting more Life Cover in place, knowing full well that that might not be the case at all.?

But what if this, now, is indeed your last shot at getting this in place??

A Suggested Next Step

I’m going to encourage you to take a step here.?

A very private step that nobody needs to know about.?

Head over to this Life Happens Life Insurance Needs Calculator. Work out your Life Insurance needs to figure out how much you need to or want to leave behind for your loved ones when you die.?

It might sound morbid, but that’s just it, isn’t it: It’s not an ‘if’, it’s a ‘when’.?

And it is up to you to decide how you want to leave things behind for the people you love most.?

Can you do this tomorrow? Sure.?

But should you do it today? Yes.??

This is one of those ‘important not urgent’ tasks until suddenly it becomes urgent and important. Like what happened in Ishtar’s case.?

Don’t sleep on this one – just go in and do this risk-free, zero-cost calculation. Get a number so you know how much you need.

Thanks for reading another edition of the Life & Life Insurance with Rickson newsletter.?

I publish articles on Life Insurance and Succession Planning for entrepreneurs and corporate executives. I also write career advancement content to help raise the bar in the financial services industry. If this has been valuable:?

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