Planes, Trains and Automobiles, with Life Insurance as My Ticket

Note: This is a special guest post from Laura Diss, 20, whose dad died of an aneurysm on Valentine’s Day 2005.

As it turns out, LIAM is more than just one of my favorite names, it’s the acronym for Life Insurance Awareness Month, something I’m lucky to take part in this year. With the sudden death of my father a little over a year ago, I realized just how important life insurance is, as I got first hand experience with it, or more specifically, a lack of it.

My father had no life insurance policy, which added considerable financial burden to an already crushing emotional loss. I had no idea how to go on without my father, and even less of a clue of how to pay for all the expenses he left behind. There was a funeral to plan, rent to pay on his house, two dogs to raise, and college tuition, not to mention daily expenses of which I’d never considered the cost. Though I’d always considered my father the world’s greatest dad, he had never thought to discuss the “what ifs” of life with me, and now, facing the most unexpected loss of my life, I was faced with the biggest “what if” of them all. And I didn’t have an answer.

Having a life insurance policy would have made an invaluable difference in the experience I had after my father’s death. Instead of scrambling around for funeral funds, or searching for college tuition, I could have turned those responsibilities over to someone else who knew how to handle them, and dealt with my loss. If my father had life insurance, I would have some sort of financial security for my future.

As it stands now, every new plan has to stand up to the question, “Where will I find the money for that?” With the help of scholarships and financial aid, I’ve managed to keep myself in school, but every semester I find myself toiling over my latest mixture of loans, savings, and work study just to be able to return to school each term. Though it’s a hurdle I choose to face, it’s one that would be significantly lower with a life insurance policy as a starting block. Life insurance would have given me a safety net, something to fall back on during those months when I just can’t make ends meet. Without it, I have to accept that until I’ve graduated from school and started my own full-time job, I will lack the luxury of financial security.

Life insurance awareness is not a cause you hear about all the time, not one you see often on college campuses or the red carpet, but important nonetheless. The lack of discussion about the need for adequate life insurance is the very reason why the Life Insurance Awareness Month campaign is so important. Speaking about my experience has taken me across the country, from Boston to Salt Lake City, and though each city is different, one thing has remained true: life insurance is not just a product, it’s a cause, a cause for which I am proud to be an advocate.