If 2020 hasn't opened your eyes to the importance of Life Insurance, I don't know what will!
We have seen so much in just under 3/4 of the year. A pandemic, a global shut down, loss of jobs, loss of lives, etc. The list goes on and gets more daunting the deeper you dive. Ultimately, we have been shown how unpredictable and fragile life truly can be.
Historically speaking, September has been Life Insurance Awareness Month. What does this mean? Well just as any "Awareness Month", our goal as an industry is to spotlight the topic of Life Insurance. I have seen seminars, webinars, mailing/emailing campaigns, and so on. My goal this month is to have the Life Insurance conversation with as many people as I possibly can. Why? Because it is too important not to. More times than not, we see crowd funding links being shared because of an unfortunate tragic event. Life insurance can help prevent that! My job is to make sure my family, friends, and clients are protected so that if god forbid something happens to them, their friends and family can mourn in peace, not worrying about a financial hardship that could lie ahead.
I want to share a story of the power of life insurance.
Early in my career, I met a family. They were the cookie cutter American Dream. The husband worked in the trades and the wife worked part time as a clerical assistant. They had 3 beautiful children that they were raising on a 10 acre piece of land with woods, a pond, and some ATV toys. Life couldn't be any better for this family!
One day the husband stayed home from work because he felt ill. Brushing it off as the stomach flu or a bad piece of pizza, he returned to work the next day. Unfortunately the pain in his abdomen continued. Hey decided it would be best to seek the counsel of a professional. The news that came next was life shattering.
Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer at the age of 33.
I received a call a few days after the official diagnosis. I spoke to the wife who fought back tears, then I spoke to the husband who showed no fear. "No worries Leo, its just a little cancer, these doctors have seen much worse". His words seemed to comfort him for the time being, but he ultimately knew his diagnosis was not good. After speaking with him for a few minutes, he asked me something that I will never forget.
"My life insurance that I set up with you last year, that is still good, right?"
With the most powerful conviction in my voice I replied with "Yes, you did the right thing at the right time and it is all good. You don't worry about that, thats my job. Your job is kicking this cancers butt!"
3 months went by and he grew weaker and weaker. On a cold October morning, I received the call that he finally grew too weak to fight any longer and had passed away. My stomach dropped and my eyes welled with tears. I would be delivering my first death benefit to a family who I just met a year ago. My heart sank.
As a few days passed, I began collecting the information that I needed. I attended the funeral and paid my respects. A few days later there was a packet on my desk. Inside was a letter to the family along with a check book. My job was to now deliver this to his widow. I packed up and headed to their home. I was greeted on the porch by a very tearful mother along with one of their children. The other two were inside on the couch watching television. As I stepped into the home I was embraced in a warm, tearful hug. We shared a moment of sorrow and walked to the kitchen table. I sat down and opened up my bag and produced the booklet. I explained to the now, widowed mother of 3, how it all works and what she will need to do moving forward.
She began to weep at the table and said, "this was never the way things were supposed to be, but he always told me that no matter if he was here or not, he would always take care of us."
And that is EXACTLY what he did. I delivered a check book for almost $1,000,000 to this family. That money covered their mortgage, all debt, and allowed the now widow to take time away from work to mourn with her children. With the leftover funds, she insisted on purchasing life insurance for all 3 kids and increased the coverage she carried for herself. She made a small donation to a charity that her husband felt strongly about. From there, she invested the rest into a few safe avenues and will continue to grow her money and use it when need be.
Please tell me why you wouldn't do this for your family. Please tell me why $20, $30, $50 a month is "too much". Please tell me why I must continue to see crowd funding in order to pay for a funeral. Please tell me why it makes more sense for someone to buy "things" before they buy protection for their family.
I am here as a resource to you. my job is to make sure that your family is taken care of even if you are no longer here just as I did for this family. If you love them, you won't take this as a sales pitch, you will take this as a moment of education.
