In the interest of full disclosure, many of you who know me remember that I sell insurance, mostly life,\u00a0disability and long term care insurance. In the 22 years I\u2019ve been selling insurance, I, of course, have\u00a0had a number of claims for death and disability. You might have thought these claims were only for “old\u00a0people” who lived full lives and completed or slightly exceeded their life expectancy. In reality, my\u00a0youngest death claim was a 38-year-old mom who died of breast cancer, leaving a 7-year-old son to\u00a0be raised on $68,000. It was all she could afford at the time! The oldest was a 50-year-old mother of two\u00a0who was taking a walk in her Santa Fe community when she was hit by a car \u2013 gone too soon! The life\u00a0insurance proceeds, while not in the hundreds of thousands, did at least allow the dad to work part time\u00a0and be there for his two young sons. I remember him writing me the most beautiful letter.<\/p>\n
Then there was\u00a0the physician in his late thirties with two young sons and a wife who came down with Parkinson’s disease!\u00a0After battling this disease for a few years, his wife lost her job! Without his disability income policy, the\u00a0family would have been in financial ruin.\u00a0In June of this year, a 43-year-old physician client died unexpectedly, leaving behind a young wife and\u00a0two small boys. His life insurance wasn\u2019t even enough to pay off half the mortgage or put the boys\u00a0through school! Tragically, his wife had no idea what he did or did not have! His friends were shocked to\u00a0find out he didn\u2019t have more coverage. But as I told his grieving wife, this is the rule, not the exception. I\u00a0see it all the time. In fairness, who plans to die young, die too soon, die without providing for the financial\u00a0well-being of his\/her loved ones? Again, gone to soon!<\/p>\n
While the details of these tragedies may not seem important, the results speak volumes to the uncertainty\u00a0and fragility of life. Insurance is all about risk aversion, taking your chances. The one certainty we all\u00a0know is that none of us escapes death; the question is not if but when. Maybe, just maybe, that #1 thing\u00a0on your bucket list should be to sure up the family’s financial future in the event that you or your spouse\u00a0leaves this world too soon! What will your legacy be?<\/p>\n