You just never know..........That's why I do what I do

Next week will be nine years since I had a near death experience while skiing at Heavenly Ski Resort near my home in Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful morning after 18 inches of fresh powder fell the night before and I was excited to hit the mountain first thing since we had a lackluster ski season thus far. I see myself as very smart and skillful skier, so that day I opted not to ski in the trees like I normally do after a good dump of snow. I decided to stay on the main runs enjoying the powder that wasn't groomed away by the resort employees. My friend and I were skiing on the edge of the run to get as much of the powder as possible when my life literally flashed before my vary eyes then everything went black. The front of my skis had hit a buried tree stump that catapulted me up in the air and launched me into to a very firm tree. After a few minutes of being unconscious and in shock, I gathered myself to see if I could move all my limbs. My feet and legs seem to be fine, but I had considerable pain in my upper region above my waist. I laid in the cold snow for about 10 to 15 minutes before my friend and another skier found me. The skier went to get Ski Patrol and my friend called my wife to let her know what had happened. I remember laying there being so emotional and thankful that I was alive for my wife and two children. Ski Patrol came and placed me in their stretcher sled, the one thing any skier never ever wants to take a ride in, to the mountain base. My wife was waiting for me at the mountain base and followed us to the hospital.

I have to say I was very fortunate that day after the x-rays showed I only fractured my scapula. The doctor surmised that after hitting the tree stump, my body was in the air finishing a front summersault in a downward angel when it took the blunt force trauma of the tree, missing my head and my spine by less than a few inches. Ironically, 14 years earlier Sonny Bono had a ski accident on the same run, hit a tree and died.

Even if I wasn't an insurance broker, I would always make sure that I'm covered for my family and myself. I personally own a disability insurance policy, 2mil of term life with Living Benefits and another 460K of Whole Life. My wife has 500k of term life with Living Benefits and another 800k of Index Universal Life. I challenge you all to take a moment to use this third party consumer based life insurance calculator to make sure your family and loved ones are taken care of properly, if God forbid something happens to you https://lifehappens.org/life-insurance-101/how-much-life-insurance-do-i-need/ In my 34 year career, I've seen too many families suffer after a loved one was stricken with a critical illness, chronic illness or death, when some basic inexpensive planning could have made a horrible situation a little more tolerable for all parties involved.