Too Poor to Buy It, Too Rich to Need It!

The men and women approached daily about insurance often use these two ‘excuses’ as a defense for not securing their insurance program. Except that these are not mere ‘excuses’. They are the harsh realities, reasonable truths that bear repeating. Fortunately, as a financial advisor, I cannot be halted by these circumstances which may change overnight for the better or even worse.?

Consider the poor who grapples with the inability to pay bills, living from paycheck to paycheck. He wishes there were even three (3) months of his salary in the bank, but something always comes up and he can barely save. Not to mention the wretched rainy day. He hopes it never comes because there is, frankly, no rainy-day money. To call out from work for a day will affect his pay and cause a string of problems that comes to stay. Sometimes if you consider the problem, ‘picknie shut fit yuh’ before the actual ‘chubble tek yuh’. In the poor man’s case, even the little money that he has can help to leverage his situation. If you are the poor man, the truth is you cannot afford to be sick. Your dependent family cannot afford to lose your paycheck temporarily or even worse, permanently (death). An insurance policy is your opportunity to make a little yeast leaven the whole bread. Be assured that whatever you have is not too small to secure something for your family or yourself.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Rich. Well decorated with assets. Monies are tied up in brick and mortar, lands and equipment, amongst other illiquid assets - oftentimes asset-rich and cash-poor. With this little cashflow, when problem sets in, the first action is to SELL. Sell the assets. And anything sold under desperation will most likely never close at market value. Without liquid cash, the estate they have toiled for, sweat for, negotiated for, that empire you built has no cash for estate administration. Let’s not mention the absence of a ‘will’ which usually saves the family much trouble. But even with a will, ready cash is needed to make things happen, and happen now at that. Even scarier is an inheritance that is tied up in a business. To the rich I say, if you cannot take three (3) months’ vacation from that business or have the business running on auto pilot, will the family have the business acumen and specialized skills needed to continue the business in your absence? Insurance is your protection on the value of your assets and the survival of your estate. Cash provides the flexibility in crises. More businesses fail for lack of cashflow rather than lack of profit.

Assets are great but CASH is KING!