Not Enough Income? Or Not Enough Personal Responsibility?

I recently participated in a meeting with top executives from some of the largest life insurance companies in the country. The subject of the meeting was the crisis of 95 million uninsured American adults and the lack of awareness and concern by these adults as to the need for life insurance.

The question is, Why do we have this problem? Part of the reason is the job loss caused by the poorly performing economy, but this is not the main reason. The main reason is the new norm of what consumers deem to be reasonable and appropriate for their lifestyles.

Young people are waiting longer to get married and start families, so the perception is that there is no need for life insurance protection in their 20s or early 30s. Cell phones, cable TV and the Internet have now become necessities and are no longer a luxury. 

I recently had a discussion with a young attorney who told me he had just switched his cable, Internet and phone to a combined package deal for $500 per month. That’s $6,000 per year that, some years ago, would and could have been allocated to savings and protection planning. If the attorney has an income of $75,000, this package deal is 8% of his gross income. 

His concern is that he doesn’t have sufficient net income to afford life insurance, especially since he doesn’t plan on dying any time soon.

Life insurance may not be a financial priority now, but what happens to the people dependent on him if he’s no longer here providing the income they need to maintain their lifestyle or just pay for basic necessities? It’s a matter of personal financial responsibility to plan, and plan early, for when life happens, because when it does, it’s too late to get the coverage you need. You can begin here.