Life Insurance is Truly for All Ages, Stages and Phases of Life
Life Insurance Awareness Month brings to mind a chance encounter at a wedding reception a few weeks ago. I had not seen Brian in years, so we spent some time catching up. He told me about the terrific life he enjoys, the great business he has built, and how much he and his wife Jane are looking forward to traveling in retirement in a few years.
I enjoyed bringing Brian up to date about my family and all the changes we’ve been through recently and was delighted to listen as he painted a wonderful picture of how he and Jane are doing, in terms of health, wellness, and financial fitness. I told Brian about my role at First Protective and the ways we help agents, brokers, and advisors solve their clients’ financial and insurance needs. Imagine my surprise when Brian looked me in the eye and said, “Life insurance? I don’t need that anymore.”
After some follow-up questions for Brian, it was clear to me that he had a very narrow and misplaced view of what life insurance is for, and what it can do. He appreciated how life insurance provides income protection, particularly for young and growing families. But he thought he had outgrown that need since his kids were grown – and he had no understanding of the wider spectrum of solutions life insurance can provide.
In Brian’s case, just a few minutes of chatting revealed that he had some gaping holes in his financial plan that could have devastating impacts on both his business and his family — but he had no idea that he even had a problem! You see, Brian was making a very common mistake – confusing financial comfort with financial preparedness.
Like so many Americans, Brian and Jane had outdated views of life insurance, believing that its only real purpose is to replace the income of a family’s main breadwinner in the event of an early death. They had no idea that life insurance can be a vital tool in solving a wide spectrum of financial problems across the entire financial life cycle, let alone the tremendous improvements and innovations that have been made to life insurance products, purchasing processes and ongoing service capabilities. Most of all, they were clueless about the value of expert advice in employing life insurance as a critical element in a lifelong financial plan.
There’s a happy ending to this story. I was able to connect Brian and Jane to a First Protective elite producer in their particular area who is helping them review their insurance situation. Now, they’re well on the way to using life insurance to help solve three critical problems they didn’t even know they had – preparing for potential long-term care expenses, estate planning needs and a business continuation strategy. In other words, they’ve discovered that life insurance can provide solutions across all ages, stages, and phases of life.
There are a myriad of ways life insurance can deliver different protection and financial solutions across the decades of changing needs. Since it is Life Insurance Awareness Month, l hope this story and my chance encounter motivates you to think of some of your clients that need their eyes opened to the value of life insurance in providing effective solutions to some of life’s most critical financial problems.
Our team at First Protective stands ready to help – we’re uniquely equipped to provide you with the solutions, sales support, and service you need to help your clients answer long-term planning needs – across all ages, stages, and phases of life!
