Living Benefits Are Real
We hear a lot about changing demographics and the way that increased longevity continues to impact our lives and lifestyles. Just in my lifetime, we’ve seen incredible advances in life expectancy, and I’ve witnessed them firsthand in my own family.
When I was growing up in the 1960s, I was fortunate to spend many wonderful moments with my grandparents and I have heartwarming memories of them throughout my childhood. But I didn’t get to know any of them, as I became an adult. Only one of my grandparents lived past age 70, and she suffered from debilitating illnesses for many years before passing away.
Let’s fast forward to 2018. My wife, Shari, and I are the proud parents of a 29-year old son who remarkably has four living grandparents, all around age 85. We’re incredibly blessed that both my parents and Shari’s are living, active and play big roles in Colin’s life, just as he does in theirs.
All of Colin’s grandparents have benefited mightily by the amazing progress that’s been made over the years in fields like medicine and healthcare, as well as new attention to physical fitness, healthier diets and generally more active lifestyles. And people have become more diligent and prudent about their fiscal fitness: working hard, saving well and planning for longer, healthier retirements than were ever imaginable to previous generations.
Financial and insurance planning are hardly new concepts. Among my parents’ generation, many have long appreciated the value of life insurance, as these policies provide such important death benefit protection that can be so critical to maintaining the financial security of loved ones who survive them. My own grandfather once said, “the trouble with worrying so much about your security in the future is that you feel so insecure in the present.” But now more than ever, Americans have access to insurance tools that provide for security now and in the future.
The insurance solutions we now have at our disposal can deliver incredibly valuable benefits like funds for retirement and coverage for disability, critical illness, chronic illness, and long term care. We’ve seen terrific advancements in pricing and underwriting of life insurance products in recent years, making these living benefits more affordable and accessible than ever before. Across our entire portfolio of insurance products, we can now deliver enhanced value and relevance across the complete spectrum of our clients’ financial life cycles.
I love my family more than I can describe, and I count my blessings every day for all the wonderful people in both my personal and professional life. I am prouder than ever to be in this business, working with people like you to deliver long term financial security to clients and loved ones – including all four of my son’s grandparents.