The Elephant in The Room: Life Insurance

It's Time to Rip the Ban-Aid off and Have a Conversation

February marks the nationwide campaign called 'Insure Your Love', which aims to raise awareness about the importance of #lifeinsurance. This initiative seeks to shed light on the benefits that life insurance can provide. Often, people avoid discussing life insurance, as it brings to light uncomfortable topics; such as death and dying [insert 'elephant' here]. However, life insurance encompasses more than just preparing for death. It also offers living benefits that can be valuable in various situations. Despite this, many individuals delay or overlook purchasing life insurance due to various reasons.

Let's dive into some ‘riders’ that provide these living benefits and let's also explore some of the common misconceptions about why people may believe they don't need life insurance or choose to postpone buying it.

• Certain types of policies, such as whole life, universal life, and variable life, can earn cash value and offer the option to withdraw part or all the cash value accumulated or take out a loan against the value.
• In the event of being diagnosed with a chronic, critical, or terminal illness, an Accelerated Death Benefit rider gives you the option to utilize the entire or a portion of the policy to cover expenses.
• If you were to experience complete disability, rendering you incapable of working and unable to afford your life insurance premiums, a Waiver of Premium rider provides the option to cease premium payments while maintaining your policy until you can resume full-time work.
• A Disability Income Rider can provide a supplementary monthly income benefit if you were to become totally disabled.

People often delay or postpone purchasing life insurance because they believe they have plenty of time. We have a mindset that we can deal with it tomorrow. However, we all know tomorrow comes faster than we’d like, and then our families could end up struggling to cover mortgage payments, funeral expenses, and necessities. Many individuals assume they have enough assets to leave behind for their loved ones, but the reality may be very different.

The lack of understanding of life insurance is another reason why people procrastinate. The process can be intimidating and confusing. Some individuals believe that having insurance through their workplace is sufficient - are you under that assumption too? Some individuals may have purchased life insurance a long time ago and never thought to review it since then. People may assume an individual life insurance plan may be too expensive, although the truth is that life insurance is now more affordable than ever before, thanks to longer and healthier lives, even with chronic illnesses.

Despite recognizing its importance, various other reasons contribute to the delay. Instead of allowing a potential coverage gap to persist, I'm here to assist you with the process and address any questions you may have. This month, to Insure Your Love give me a call or send me a message. I'm dedicated to helping you understand and find the right coverage for the right price and navigate through this process.