Peace of mind may be at the top of most Americans’ wish list but with all the economic turmoil that has been impacting lives (and budgets!) during the past several years, you might believe that it’s out of reach.
However, there is one area where you can take charge to protect not only your financial future, but also that of your family: insurance planning.
According to statistics, most Americans don’t have adequate life insurance is place. Unfortunately, this decision can have a disastrous effect on their family in both the short and long-term. Many families will be unable to handle day-to-day expenses after the loss of one parent, while, down the road, children may be unable to attend college or have other needs adequately addressed.
At The LIFE Foundation, we are committed to helping Americans make smart insurance decisions for themselves, their families and businesses. These three steps will help you achieve peace of mind by ensuring your insurance needs are met.
Step One: Stop procrastinating. As Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” You’re aware that life insurance is important. You may even know of friends or family members whose lives were put in financial peril due to a lack of adequate insurance. But still, you hesitate to make the decision. Time for a reality check: go to LIFE’s Insurance Needs Calculator for a quick and easy needs analysis. The answer may be just the motivation you need to move on to the next step.
Step Two: Work with a professional. You see your internist for a 12-month check-up and your dentist for a regular cleanings. Even your car undergoes routine service by a qualified mechanic. Why would you entrust your financial plans and insurance needs to anyone less than a qualified financial expert? An annual review of your insurance and financial plans and portfolio with a financial professional can help you to create a plan that aligns your needs with the insurance and financial products and arrangements you have in place, and identify areas where changes need to be made. (Use LIFE Foundation’s agent locator to find a qualified insurance professional or financial advisor.)
Step Three: Work the plan. You know what you need and you may even have met with an insurance professional to get the facts and figures. Now you need to act on that knowledge. From a purely practical standpoint, the longer you hold off making a decision, the more money the policy may cost you, since, generally speaking, rates increase with age. But it’s not just your budget that will be affected, but your peace of mind as well. Knowing that something should be done but failing to actually do it is like carrying a weight that grows heavier with each passing day. In the end, it’s less stressful to make the decision and check the item off your To-Do list than to keep avoiding it. (Still not sure? Listen to CindyLu Rowe’s experience at LIFE’s realLIFEstories.)
This holiday season, give yourself and your family a gift that will keep on giving: an insurance policy that will protect your future and theirs. Along with its financial benefit, it will give you the peace of mind to look forward to the future.
Thursday, December 8th, 2011 | Brian H. Ashe | |
You’ve probably seen the show before—ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Host Ty Pennington and his crew pick a family whose housing has deteriorated, often in the aftermath of a job loss, medical problems or death. The chosen family’s future is bleak, and emotions run high with the description of lost dreams.
But Ty and his crew, with the help from local construction companies and volunteers, magically transform what once was a hovel into an architectural masterpiece, with the latest appliances and design techniques.
With great flourish the homeowners, who often have been on a trip to Disneyland or some other resort for the week that their home was being transformed, return to their homestead, which is hidden behind the “Extreme Makeover” bus.
With Ty’s command to “move that bus,” the bus lurches forward revealing the transformed home, and with tears and gasps the family races through their new hallways, discovering the treasures of their new residence.
Such was the scene on a recent show that featured the story of Tricia Urban, a young mom who lost her husband to heart problems on the very day their first child was born. They had an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania they were fixing up and their fairy tale included some miniature horses, sheep, pigs and a peacock.
But when her husband died, the money to pay for things stopped. The house went unfinished and fell into disrepair, and new baby Cora’s future fell into doubt.
Now I love emotion, drama and a good story as much as anyone, but Tricia’s story made me think: “I wonder how much life insurance her husband had?” I don’t want to judge because maybe his heart problems prevented him from qualifying, but I thought, “Gee, at his age, about $70 a month would have bought $1 million of life insurance to help his wife and daughter still have a chance at their fairy tale. I bet it cost that much just to feed the pets.”
And $1 million income tax free, delivered immediately with no probate costs, legal or accounting fees seemed like a whole lot better bet than hoping that Ty and his makeover crew would pull up in their bus and save the family when they’re in trouble.
During a typical season, maybe 13 families receive a once-in-a-lifetime gift from the show. During a typical year in the United States, 500,000 people die, leaving shattered lives, hospital bills, failed businesses, a lack of succession planning, illiquid investments, terminated college dreams, meager savings, incomplete retirement planning and a host of other financial problems for those they love.
Applying for the benefits of being on some TV show is just taking a chance someone will like your story. Applying for life insurance to protect your family is a choice—a choice to make sure that their fairy tale continues, no matter what happens.
It’s time to change your thought process from chance to choice. Start here.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ biography was released yesterday; his biographer, Walter Issacson, talks candidly about Mr. Jobs’ genius
here. I’ve watched with respect and amazement how people all over the world have reacted to his death. More than a million people from around the word have shared their memories and feelings about Mr. Jobs on the Apple site.
He was certainly an innovator, and the products that Apple sells have contributed to an easier and more enjoyable way of life for many people. I’m even typing this blog post on my iPad.
However, he was just a man.
It reminds me of how people reacted when Elvis Presley died. Here in my hometown of Memphis, folks come from all over the world each year to celebrate the anniversary of Elvis’ death. We call that week “Dead Elvis Week.” I’ve gotta wonder if Apple fans will do the same on the anniversary of Mr. Jobs’ passing.
Famous and influential people have that effect on others.
However, the real question is: How will you will be remembered by your family and friends? Sure, things like memories, caring friends and faith are all important and will likely help ease the emotional trauma your family will feel when you, like Steve Jobs, are no longer with us.
But most mere mortals that I know do not have the financial wealth that Steve Jobs had, so how we plan for the “financial afterlife” our family will have is absolutely essential.
Life insurance serves that purpose better than any other product I know of. I know, you’re thinking life insurance?
Don’t think about what life insurance is … think about what it does:
Life Insurance funds the future, allows dreams to continue and keeps families in their homes and schools of choice. It replaces lost income, provides peace of mind, allows time to adjust, and, if I can put it bluntly, even creates your financial legacy.
Legacies last forever. Will yours be one of comfort, ease and financial security for your family? Or will others be able to tell of your lack of planning by the changes your family might be forced to make because all they have is memories and caring friends and neighbors, but no financial ability to maintain their way of life? Is that what your family would want? Is that what you feel they need?
Call your financial advisor today if you want to know how to use life insurance to fund your financial legacy.
Today is Evaluate Your Life Day … interesting, because most of us evaluate or reevaluate “things” on Jan. 1 or our birthdays. But, alas, there are always areas in our lives we can improve and make better decisions about. Most of the changes we know we need to make are centered on our work, health and finances. Here are a few questions to get your thinking:
Is your work/home life in balance? We know that technology has tethered us to work and “extracurriculars” have taken over our free time. The Mayo Clinic has a nice post called Tips to Reclaim Control, which is focused on creating better equilibrium at work and at home. There are a dozen or so tips, but one that resonated with me was simple, yet difficult to do at times: Learn to say no. As the article says, “Whether it’s a co-worker asking you to spearhead an extra project or your child’s teacher asking you to manage the class play, remember that it’s OK to respectfully say no.”
Is your exercise routine on track? Notice I didn’t say health. I think most of us would admit that we don’t get as much exercise as we should, and if we did, our health would be better. I think Michelle Obama is on to something with her Let’s Move campaign. Exercise doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be as simple as getting off the couch and taking a walk every day. Or, as the First Lady says, when in doubt, just “turn on the music and dance until you sweat.”
Do you have your financial priorities in order? It seems that (almost) everyone has felt the financial squeeze in the current economic climate. People are coming up with creative ways to make their money go further; check these out. Tighter household budgets can also mean cutting back. Choosing a cheaper cell phone plan and dining in, instead of out, make sense. But be careful with what you consider a luxury or a necessity when trimming expenses. Cable? Luxury. Life insurance? Necessity. If you’re not convinced, read this.
Simplify? … Simplify! An underlying theme in these articles and posts seems to be setting priorities. What is really important to 
you? Focus on that, and let the rest go. Leo Babauta writes the great blog Zen Habits (which has more than 250 million readers!). He has a great list of 72 ideas to simplify your life.
But as we contemplate change on this Evaluate Your Life Day, I like the quote that Babauta highlights by Thich Nhat Hanh: “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves—slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment.” … Time for me to brew some tea.
Friday, October 14th, 2011 | Rene Syler | |
“Are you sitting down?” It was my mother on the other end of the phone. It just so happened, I was sitting, something I’d been doing a lot of, given the fact I was in the second trimester of my second pregnancy. “Yeah mom, what’s up?” I was using that rushed, impatient tone with her, the very one I hear (and hate) from my own kids. That’s when she dropped the bomb. “I have breast cancer.”
Those words stole my breath. My mom? No way! She was healthy, vibrant and strong. Besides, she had no family history. Surely this was a mistake. It wasn’t. My mother was one of the more than 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in this country each year. I am thankful she was smart and vigilant; her cancer was found on a mammogram and it was very small. She chose a lumpectomy and radiation and she’s been cancer free for nearly 14 years.
Her bout with breast cancer came years after my father battled the disease, too. Yes, men can and do get breast cancer, though not in the numbers women do. He had a modified radical mastectomy since his cancer was growing aggressively.
After my mother’s diagnosis I began a heavy screening routine, seeing the breast surgeon twice a year, having a mammogram and sonogram once a year and dutifully doing breast self-exams. But in 2003, my mammograms started showing suspicious white flecks and due to my family history, each new development needed to be biopsied. Four biopsies in four years (all on the same breast, in the same location) and my breast had had enough and sort of collapsed. So did I. I began talking to my breast surgeon about taking a more proactive stance—instead of waiting until I got cancer, trying to avoid it altogether and perhaps fix some of the damage done by all the biopsies. We decided the best option for me would be a preventive double mastectomy.
In January 2007, I was on the table at Memorial Sloan Kettering having my breasts removed in a five-and-a-half hour procedure that was filmed by the Oprah Winfrey show. I went back two months later for a day procedure to exchange the temporary implants for my permanent ones.
I look back on that time as a crash course in life lessons for me. I learned a lot about breast cancer; did you know family history is NOT the biggest risk factor? That’s right, only about 10% of cases have a genetic link. Remember, there was no history in my family before my parents were diagnosed. The biggest risk factor for breast cancer is being an aging woman. Period.
A bout with serious illness can take as much of a toll on your family finances as it can on your health. When you’re 
sick, you need to concentrate on getting well, not worrying about paying bills or whether you’re siphoning off funds needed for your family’s future, which makes me grateful for the good health insurance that I had.
A serious illness also makes you rethink your financial future. My husband and I have always made sure we carried adequate life insurance coverage. Life insurance is not one of those things that you can deal with “down the line.” You really need to think of it like a shield. A critical one at that.
So since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, along with thinking about your health, how about taking a moment for a life insurance check-up? Do you have enough coverage? What would your family need in the event something happened to you? What should you do right now, while you’re healthy, to safeguard the future? Check out this post by breast cancer survivor and insurance agent Vlasta Duffy, who has tips on what you should consider. It could save you a lifetime of worry. I can’t think of a reason not to do it, can you?
Peace of mind may be at the top of most Americans’ wish list but with all the economic turmoil that has been impacting lives (and budgets!) during the past several years, you might believe that it’s out of reach.
