LIFE's LIAM Plans

The 2010 LIAM spokesperson is actress Leslie Bibb, whose recent credits include roles in films such as Iron Man 2, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Leslie was just 3 when her dad died in a work-related accident at age 39. After the accident, Leslie’s mother was faced with having to raise four girls on her own. Her mother continued to work to provide for her daughters, but her financial situation was greatly eased by the proceeds from her husband’s life insurance. With money not being a major concern, Leslie’s mother was able to focus on keeping the family together and meeting her daughters’ everyday needs. “My father never thought he’d die at such a young age, but he loved his family enough to expect the unexpected,” says Leslie. In September and throughout the remainder of the year, Leslie’s story will be broadcast nationally in TV and radio public service announcements. Beginning in a few weeks, you’ll also be able to view Leslie’s PSAs on LIFE’s homepage www.lifehappens.org.

For 2010, LIFE has decided to build upon a theme that generated a lot of enthusiasm when it was first introduced during LIAM 2009. The Wonders of Life is a simple concept. We live for life’s wondrous moments. From simple pleasures like enjoying quality time with loved ones to major milestones such as seeing a child reach graduation day, these are the moments we cherish most. Life insurance is all about ensuring that the life you’ve worked so hard to achieve for your loved ones won’t come to a halt if something were to happen to you. Unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans lack adequate life insurance protection. If they were to die prematurely, life would quickly become a struggle for their loved ones, leaving little time to savor life’s wondrous moments. Read more about the Wonders of Life theme by visiting the Wonders microsite at  www.wondersoflife.org

LIFE is developing a fun Facebook Application that will remind Americans that life insurance can help them protect the people and things that matter most to them. The App will allow Facebook users to create a slideshow set to music that showcases the most important people and things in their lives. People who use the App through September 30, 2010, will be entered into a contest to win a five-day trip for two to the lovely island of Aruba. To encourage people to share their slideshows with their Facebook friends, every time someone indicates that they “like” their friend’s slideshow, $1 will be donated to Comfort Zone Camp, the nation’s largest bereavement camp serving children who’ve suffered the loss of a parent. When September rolls around, industry professionals will be strongly encouraged to promote the App to their friends, family members and clients. Please return to this page in the coming weeks to learn more about the App and to review the contest rules.    

For the 15th consecutive year, LIFE is partnering with Newsweek to bring realLIFEstories to the American people. These are true stories that illustrate how important insurance can be when families and businesses are faced life’s most challenging moments, like the death or disability of a loved one. LIFE conducts an annual contest to elicit the best stories from across the country. This year's featured stories can be seen in the September 20, 2010 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands September 13). For more than a decade, the families that are featured in the Newsweek special section have shared their compelling stories in person at the annual meeting of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA). For the first time, this year’s realLIFEstories program will be simulcast live via the web on September 13, 2010 at approximately 1pm EST/10am PST. Come back to this page in the weeks leading up to September for information on how to access the live online broadcast. In the meantime, you can view LIFE’s clearinghouse of realLIFEstories videos by visiting www.lifehappens.org/reallifestories.

In September, LIFE will publicly announce the recipients of its 2010 LIFE Lessons Scholarship Awards. Earlier in the year, college-age students were asked to write essays or submit videos describing how the death of a parent impacted their lives, especially their ability to afford college. The vast majority of entries describe the financial hardship that resulted when a parent died and had little or no life insurance coverage. Thanks in large part to generous grants from the NAILBA Charitable Foundation and the MDRT Foundation, LIFE will award a record number of scholarships this year. In all, LIFE will give out 59 scholarships totaling $105,000, including a Grand Prize $10,000 scholarship. To get an appreciation for the power of these young people’s stories, watch Tracy Basden’s video. Tracy was our Grand Prize winner in 2008, and her story epitomizes the unnecessary financial struggle that so many Americans face when a parent dies without enough life insurance coverage.  

Throughout September, LIFE will post new content on its blog several times each week. The Insurance Word is the leading personal finance blog for topics related to life and health insurance. When there’s a noteworthy article written in major newspaper, we give you our take on it. When interesting studies come out, we let you know about them. When Americans aren’t planning properly, we inform them about the risks they face and urge them to take action. Check out our blog regularly and include a link to it on your own website to bring others into this ongoing dialogue about important insurance planning topics. www.lifehappens.org/blog

LIFE’s LIAM plans will also include:

• Partnering with LIMRA to focus the public on the ongoing crisis of underinsurance. LIMRA is compiling the initial findings from the latest iteration of its Trends in Life Insurance Ownership report, the authoritative snapshot of life insurance ownership in America.
• Outreach to the mom and dad blogger community through partnerships with leading blogger networks.

These are just some of LIFE’s plans for the September campaign. If you have any questions or need additional information, feel free to contact Jon Dressner at jdressner@lifehappens.org.