Life Insurance – Worth your Thoughts & Consideration

I was lucky enough to join the Life Insurance business in 2005, when the private Life Insurance industry was still at a nascent stage. The start was challenging, not because there was something wrong with the product or the industry, but with the incomplete understanding and perception on part of the general customer about the life-changing benefits of life insurance. I was up for the challenge to change that perception because I believe that the higher the degree of a challenge, the bigger is the learning and greater is the satisfaction & rewards. So, I jumped into my job with all my passion & enthusiasm. I put my soul and poured my heart into it right from the word go.

This one article may not suffice to cover all the reasons why I fell in love and why I believe this profession is truly a mission and a noble cause, but I will try to cover as many of them possible through a series of articles. I won’t stop until I help align your perspective with the life-saving benefits of this amazing product/solution. 

The ‘power’ and ‘novelty’ of Life Insurance just can’t be compared with any other financial offering. This product only comes to play a role in your life when you need it the most and when you have no one else to count on, in this whole wide world. You will agree that ‘ALL’ human beings are exposed to these three big risks, without any exception:

a) The risk of dying early 

b) The risk of living too long 

c) Morbidity risk. 

Life Insurance is the only financial product available, which allows you to manage and provide for any adverse impact arising out of these three risks, during any life stage of yours. I will try and explain what are the possibilities of these incidents happening in your life and hence how critical it becomes to opt for a life insurance solution. 

In Life Insurance, we are in the business of ‘Settling Claims’. We only get 2 types of claims in the life cycle of our customers and, a customer can’t have both of them. If he is fortunate enough, he can claim a Maturity amount, or else the few unlucky ones have their nominees collect the Death Benefit. On average, if the Industry settles 100 claims in a year, 1% - 2% are Death Claims. The balance 98% - 99% are Maturity Settlements. 

So, statistically, the chances of your nominee collecting a Death Claim are very low. But the impact of this low statistics on the families is abnormally high. They are never prepared to lose their loved ones. And if they were financially dependent on that person, it makes the loss that much harder to deal with.

I believe you will not board a flight, if the pilot makes an announcement while waiting on the runway for takeoff, that 98% chances are that this airplane will land at the desired destination and 2% chances are we may not. I am 200% sure that even if he said, 99% chances are we will land and 1% we may not, you will still jump out of that airplane. You need a 100% guarantee of landing to be on board that flight. 

Every year we lose 1% to 2% of our clients so one can make a fair assumption today that, 1% - 2% chances are that some of our customers may not see 2021. I am not being negative or pessimistic, but this is a possibility that can’t be taken lightly. Also, we do know the percentage but unfortunately, we don’t know the names of those who won't make it to the end of the year. Hence, I treat it as our responsibility to reach out to as many customers as possible and offer this advice to them.  

Let me explain further. I am sure we all have met with one or two small accidents in our life. Whom will you blame for this accident? In most of the cases, we find the other person responsible. You were driving with precaution, but a drunk or a careless driver hit you up. You have been in situations where it was just not your fault, and you were impacted by someone else's irresponsibility or mistake. So, when you know that despite all the precautions you can take, someone else can mess up and endanger your life, then why leave things to chance? How many times will you get lucky? Not every time. Right?

I personally believe that when you see dark clouds in the sky and cool winds blowing stronger than usual, you will carry an umbrella in case you venture out. Carrying an umbrella is not being a pessimist but being cautious and prepared. You wear a helmet while riding your bike and you wear seat belts while driving your car, not because you think, you will meet with a fatal accident. You do all this because you know there is a possibility, something could go wrong, on your part or on part of someone else, and you don’t want to take a chance. 

Life Insurance is just like your umbrella, helmet, or the seat belt. It’s a crazy world out there and the sad part is you can’t buy an umbrella, just before it starts to rain or you can’t buy a helmet, just before your bike skids off the road or you can’t put your seat belt, just before an accident. The same principle applies to Life Insurance; you can’t buy it, just before you are going to die. Someone very beautifully put it, Life Insurance is like a Parachute, if you don’t have it when you need it, forget it. You won’t need it ever again. So, don’t deliberate any further and go for it.

Thank you for your patient reading and hang in, I will continue on this path of spreading awareness about this amazing product for a while. Wishing you all a safe and happy life ahead.

Sandeep Mishra

Twitter: @_SandeepMishra_

Instagram: @_sandeepkumarmishra_