After putting the kids to bed, Sally sat and stared at the bills on the table. She never expected to be here. With tears in her eyes, the questions raced through her mind. How do you raise two kids by yourself? How do you pay for this mortgage on one income? How do teachers in Texas survive on this salary? Why does cancer hit us? Why didn't we ever talk about life insurance? WHY?
Don’t let this be you! No one likes to talk about life insurance. It is about as fun to talk about as watching paint dry. It is generally boring and can be confusing when discussing it with all of the types of life insurance policies, life insurance options, and who wants to talk about things like death benefits.
Questions Texans Ask
If you are a real Texan, you probably have questions like:
- Do I have enough potential benefits?
- Does my employer guarantee my family enough death benefit?
- Why are there so many different types of life policies?
- Should I buy a term policy or a permanent coverage?
- When is it too late to add additional coverage?
- Why do insurance companies ask so many dang questions?
- What is this universal life product am I hearing about?
- Can I use life insurance as part of my retirement portfolio?
But one question I never hear after a loss of a loved one is “Should I have bought life insurance now that my loved one is dead?” Sally certainly wasn't asking this question sitting at her table that night. Her husband had been the picture of health, until he wasn't. He had a great job and they were living a comfortable life raising their kids in their dream home back in Belton where they grew up. They were finally starting to get ahead and they were talking about how they had their entire life in front of them. And then the cancer diagnosis hit. At that point, it wasn't even about trying to find an affordable policy. Just getting any kind of life insurance policy for him became impossible. And so they were left with what his work policy afforded them.
How To Prepare For Later
While sitting with families who are grieving a loss (or sudden loss) of a loved one, I additionally have never heard them say things like, “We got too much life insurance.” Sounds silly, right? The Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association tells us that only half of Americans have life insurance at all. And about 41% believe that they are underinsured. After having conversations with real Texans about both term life policies and permanent life policies, I know that many don't actually know if they are underinsured because the first question that most Texans ask is how much do I need?
Sally had never considered that until her husband passed away. The small policy that his employer had provided covered the funeral costs and allowed her a bit of time off from her teaching job, but then just a few weeks later while still processing the grief she was a the table with the pile of bills. An inexpensive term life insurance policy would have changed that scene. But we usually don't ask questions until it's too late.
The hard questions that Texas families should be asking don't have to involve financial planners. But we should be discussing how much debt we carry, how we would survive for a period of time if something unthinkable happened, and how our kids can launch into adulthood well. These are where we move from just being parents into being life long helpers to those that we love so much. Sally was wishing she had had these conversations even if they aren't the most fun thing to discuss. It certainly would have changed her current financial situation from what it is today.
Biggest Thing To Consider About Getting Coverage
Many Texans can become bogged down in the thoughts of policy terms, potential benefits like long-term care, permanent life insurance options, and premium payments. And while those items are certainly important, the single biggest thing you need to consider is how to get some coverage before medical conditions are found. The reason being that a single medical diagnosis can change you from insurable to uninsurable in an instant.
When Sally got word that her husband had been diagnosed with cancer, the first thought was of the medical expenses to treat it. But then the what if game began to play out and the reality of coverage being unavailable began to sink in. Life insurance companies have to make money like any other business, and issuing policies after a major diagnosis like that is not profitable. Talking with an independent life insurance agent before those medical life events occur can mean the difference between financial security and Sally considering how she was going to sell the home.
Peace Of Mind
When working with clients after a life insurance death benefit has been paid, I hear things like “I’m glad the burden of the funeral expenses or my mortgage payments is taken care of”, “I am so glad our children’s college education is paid for”, or "my daughter can still have her dream wedding" because of life insurance. No one has ever worried about premium costs, if they had a permanent policy, or whether that initial conversation was awkward.
For them, life insurance was there in the background and was ready to help when the time came. We at Insurance of Texans try not to sell insurance products. We know that may sound weird, but we help provide peace of mind and the promise of certainty when major life events try to make things chaotic. That promise of certainty is more important than anything else we can provide.
Life insurance has many different parts and has a multitude of options, levers, enhancements. It can be confusing and frustrating when considering what life insurance you may want. Here is where I come in as an insurance advocate and independent agent. Depending on your situation and preferences, I will present options and provide advice as to what direction you could go when purchasing your next life insurance product.
Just because it seems like an arduous action to get life insurance, we strive to make the application process as easy, clear, and concise as possible.
Let us strive to bring you the promise of certainty. Just give us a call at 469.789.0220 or click on the button below.
