As a seasoned life insurance professional going into my third decade, I hear younger men stating they don’t need life insurance. I then promptly remind them, dude, life insurance is not for you, it’s for them. Them being the family and loved ones left behind in case of your sudden death. Regardless of a person’s age, if anyone other than you depends on you and your income to survive, you desperately need life insurance. If you don’t believe this is an issue in America today, look at these statistics.
According to Life Insurance and Market Research Association or LIMRAs research, over 30% of US households do not have life insurance. A staggering 55% of US households or 58 million people admit they do not have enough life insurance and need more. Not only are average US families not buying enough life insurance but those households that do have life insurance have had their face amounts decrease over $30,000 average since 2004. The most alarming number comes from a survey stating that 70% of US admit they would have serious financial problems if the primary breadwinner were to die within just a few months including 30% of households admitting their problem would be immediate.
What can a life insurance policy do for a family? It can buy loved ones time to grieve. It can pay off loans and provide surviving family members with the chance to move on with a clean slate of debt. It can keep families in their homes and pre-fund a child’s college education. It can keep a family business in the family or allow options for the surviving family members. It can provide a stream of income for a family to live on for years. Life insurance can do all of these wonderful things for your family, but there’s just one small catch. You need to own life insurance first. Life insurance has the best value premium to benefit ratio of any insurance product. Let’s face it we will all die one day guaranteed.
Since September is Life Insurance Awareness Month or LIAM there has never been a better time to apply for a new life insurance policy. With 70% of US households admitting they either do not have life insurance or do not have enough life insurance, every American should be aware of the availability and affordability of a good life insurance policy. I suggest reading Life Insurance 101 to learn about the different types of policies and determine which may be the best fit for your unique situation. Then call your favorite life insurance advisor to start the process before it is too late.
“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection”.—Sigmund Freud
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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger and team leader with over 27 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.
Could not agree more with this article! Sadly many do not listen to the advice. We recommended to a client that they purchase life insurance for their young children. It was cheap price because of his age.
$250,000 of coverage (20 year level) was only around $13 per month. He decided the $13 was too much to spend on life insurance so he did not buy the insurance…fast forward 11 months after our recommendation, he is diagnosed with cancer, completely uninsurable now and if he dies his kids pay the price for his lack of action.
Jack, what a sad story that we have to tell over and over. The cost of a pizza protects the ones he loves and depends on him. I hope and pray he pulls through. Thank you for sharing it, very powerful.
Where have you been,Dude? Today’s Lilfe Insurance is for LIFE! Great cash growth. Guaranteed. Available practically on-demand without age restrictions penalties or federal taxes. Lots of flexibility for adaptation including Long-Term Care benefits. Yes, there is a death benefit. But that’s no longer the only benefit.
Rebecca, you are preaching to the choir sister! Problem is the younger generation doesn’t want to spend $13 for term life, let alone the premiums for an IUL or whole life with all of their options. I do appreciate your reminder, thank you for sharing it.
I heat that a lot
Unfortunately too often Bal.
Agreed Tim, sad, but completely preventable. (not the cancer part) Another client 8 years ago bought a $500,000 policy from us and 3 years later dies from cancer, his family was taken care of.
Tim – ? You are Preaching to the Choir here… I am at a loss why this post? Are you selling something or just Preaching?
Mike, I understand for most I am “preaching to the choir” but there are newer agents that need encouragement as well. Just trying to be helpful during “our” month of LIAM.
Now that makes sense–Good Post