When you’ve been in the insurance business (or any business, for that matter!) for as long as I have, people often ask what the most rewarding thing that I have been able to accomplish in business. While there have been countless times which I can count as great accomplishments, there are a few that really stand out. The reason is not because I made some great sales goal, but because something I did made a difference in a person or family’s life. This post is about a few times where asking a few tough questions made a massive difference. Life Insurance is never a topic that people find comfortable. By definition, you are talking to someone about their mortality: a topic no one wants to really look at. To be good at my job, it is necessary for me to at least ask about someone’s life insurance program. I would be neglecting my duty if I didn’t. Since I’ve been an agent, there have been six times where I wrote a policy that a life insurance benefit was paid out. While all of them were tragic and special at the same time (tragic because it involved someone’s death, but special because a family was greatly benefited), there are three that I want to discuss today to highlight the importance of this coverage. MARRIED COUPLE, NO CHILDREN A few years back, there was a married couple that often came into the office that I worked. They both worked at a local electronics store, and they had no children. When I first broached the idea of life insurance, neither saw the need. They said that they had no children and that they were certain that they had coverage through work. I went over all of the benefits of having a life insurance policy, and they promised me they would think about it. This went on for about two years. They would come back with the occasional question, “what if I get sick? Will it still pay” (It will). “Can we have someone in Mexico as the beneficiary if we both die?” (You can). “What was the cost again?” Things of that nature. One afternoon, the couple came into the office. They sat down and said that they were ready to write the life insurance. I started up the application, and coverage was bound. They were very happy to have gotten the policies. Their respective policies had each other listed as the primary beneficiaries, and their respective parents as their successor beneficiaries. As an aside, a successor beneficiary is someone who gets paid should the primary beneficiary die prior to the policy paying out. Fast forward a little over two years. Our office gets a call from local law enforcement. They told us that this young couple had been murdered. At first, we thought there was some sort of sick joke going on. Unfortunately, it was true. This hard-working couple with family in Mexico had been violently killed by persons unknown. The detectives were exploring who the beneficiaries might have been as possible motive for the murder. It ended up that all people involved in the policy were cleared. Sadly, no one was ever caught for these horrible murders. The detective said that they believe it was a case of mistaken identity. Where the impact of these policies happens comes next. The families of the married couple came into our office. They knew that there were life insurance policies, and they came in to fill out the paperwork necessary to make the claim. I will never forget the family wanting to know what happened, and us reading the newspaper articles to them. The mother was crying, but did not want us to stop. She needed to hear everything. After we were done, the family thanked us over and over again. The money that was created for this family through the life insurance policies enabled the families to bring their children home to Mexico to be buried in a family plot. Without these life policies, this would not have been possible. The family was able to grieve with dignity and lay their children to rest. I never looked at life insurance the same way again. OLDER MAN, TERMINALLY ILL The second story I want to tell you is one about an older gentleman. This gentleman was 69 years old. He had a term life insurance policy that he had bought about twenty-five years prior. I called him about his policy for follow up service, and before I could get two more words out, he told me that he had terminal cancer. “I’m sure that there’s nothing you can do for me. I’m dying of cancer.” I told him that I would look over his policy and get back to him if there was anything that he needed to know about it, specifically beneficiaries, etc. As I investigated his policy, I saw that it was an old-fashioned policy called “Term to Age 70.” This policy was the type that would end at the first policy anniversary date following his 70th birthday. If he did nothing, his policy would expire and he would be left without life insurance assuming he didn’t die first. Fortunately, he had a clause in his policy that allowed him to convert his policy to a permanent policy. He had some accumulated value in his term policy that we would be able to roll over into his permanent policy and that would help keep his premiums down. I called him back to talk about the policy. He immediately told me again that he was dying of cancer and that there was nothing I could do: a virtual repeat of our previous conversation. I very politely asked him to let me finish what I had to tell him. I informed him that his policy would expire at age 70. I was blunt in that I told him that if he thought he would die before that time, we would be better off leaving everything in place. He would be better off that way. If he thought that he would live longer, though, it would most definitely be in his best interest to make the conversion happen. At first, he didn’t believe that his policy would expire. He told me he wanted to go look at his policy, which he had close by. We got off the phone and he said he would call me back. Within about twenty minutes, he was back on the phone with me. He saw that what I was telling him was correct. He became frantic thinking that he might die without life insurance. He wanted to leave a legacy for his kids and grandkids and without this life insurance policy that was impossible. I told him not to worry. We could make the switch, and it would cost him no more per month than what he was paying now by structuring the dividends properly. He asked me flat out, “why are you doing this? You could have just kept your mouth shut and avoided paying me anything.” I told him that he had kept up his end of the bargain for the better part of 25 years. It was our turn to hold our end up. We were able to convert his policy and his policy was projected to stay in force up until age 96. He thought that there was no way possible that he would outlive that policy. This gentleman lived just a little bit beyond his 70th birthday. If he had not changed his policy, he would have gotten his accumulated dividends, which were far less than what his family eventually received. He raved to his family that it was unbelievable that a life insurance agent would go out of his way to make sure that his coverage continued, especially when not saying anything would have saved the company money. Needless to say, that was a very satisfying event in my career. He was able to die in peace knowing that his legacy for his grandchildren was spared. A LITTLE BABY The final situation that I want to tell you about is the most personal of all. Many of you know that I have two siblings: an older sister, and a younger sister. My younger sister has two children: Logan and Allison. My niece Allison, also known as Ally, is the one I want to tell you about. Ally was born a happy healthy little girl. When she was about seven months old, I approached my sister about writing a life insurance policy for both my nephew and my niece. While she didn’t really see the need, because I was her brother, and because the policies were very inexpensive, she agreed. Since she was a baby, it was not hard to get the policy issued. Within a couple of weeks, my sister had my niece’s policy in her hands. A few months later, the babysitter was changing her diaper and noticed that she had a fairly large lump on her back around where the kidney is. It was so large that it made changing the diaper difficult. She called my sister at work to tell her about the lump. When my sister called my niece’s pediatrician, he wanted to schedule an appointment for the next day. Needless to say, my sister was getting a little anxious about the speed with which the doctor wanted to make the appointment. To make a long story short, Ally was diagnosed with Wilme’s Tumors: a cancer of the kidneys. This type of cancer is the second most common pediatric cancer behind leukemia. In most cases, Wilme’s Tumors are very responsive to treatment, so the family was optimistic. Ally’s situation, however, was a bit more dire in that she had cancer in both of her kidneys: a very rare occurrence. After months and months of chemotherapy and radiation, Ally was sent to St. Jude’s hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. St. Jude’s is reserved for the most desperate situations in which all other types of treatment have failed. They have some very experimental drug treatments which have proven effective, so once again, there was hope. Our family’s last hope at St. Jude’s was not to come to fruition. They told my sister and brother-in-law that there was nothing further that they could do. They recommended that they take her home to “Ally’s House” so that she could receive hospice care in an environment in which she felt safe and comfortable. When they turned the corner to get home, the little girl, just one month shy of her third birthday, had her face lit up with a smile. She said, with a voice full of joy, “it’s Ally’s House!” After having spent weeks and months in hospitals, going home was all that this little girl could ever want. During this time, I had taken over payments on the life insurance policy for Ally. I didn’t want my sister to open her bank statement every month and see that charge coming out of her account. She had enough to go through, she didn’t need to see this as well. I am sad to say that Ally didn’t make it. She died exactly one month shy of her third birthday at “Ally’s House.” She had her mom and dad, her grandma and grandpa, and numerous friends and family nearby. After the rest of the family (myself included) started to show up in Oklahoma where they lived at the time, I started work on making the death claim. I asked my brother-in-law to collect an obituary as well as a death certificate. We pulled all of those items together and send them to the life claims department. I asked that the check be sent to a local agent’s office so that it not be delivered to my sister’s home. Amazingly, there was a check ready for them within six days of Ally’s death. I handed my brother-in-law the check in the funeral home. It is hard to describe what that policy did for my family. They have a fairly wealthy family friend who offered to pick up the tab for several things. Because of this policy, they were able to say, “no. We can take care of this ourselves.” They were able to go to the mortuary they wanted to go to. They were able to get the vault, casket, and headstone that they wanted. There were also a few residual medical bills that needed to be cleared. This small life insurance policy enabled my family to grieve the loss of baby Ally with dignity. They have no memories of stresses associated with having no money to pay for her burial. They were able to concentrate on grieving and honoring that brave little warrior’s memory. DIGNITY The word that keeps coming back to me in all of these situations is that life insurance allowed all of these families to take care of their loved ones with dignity. Today, we often see people conducting fund-raisers to help offset funeral expenses. When I die, I want my family to be able to focus on taking care of each other, not take care of me. Life insurance will enable my family to do just that. AVOIDANCE Granted, the life insurance discussion can be a hard one. Many folks put it off and put it off. Some put it off until they get some sort of medical scare. By that time, the rates will be higher, or else coverage is impossible to get. My advice is, have the conversation NOW! It will never get any easier. If cost is keeping you away, don’t. Life insurance is more affordable than people think. In fact, if given a budget, I can usually make something work. I promise that I will do my best to make the discussion as short, yet as productive as it could possibly be. I won’t manipulate your feelings, but I will give you hard facts that will enable you to make the right decision. I’M READY, DAVE If you are now ready to have that talk, please call my office at (661) 946-4224 or email me at dave@thedaveowens.com. Make sure that you have your significant other in your life, whether it be a spouse, parent of your child, or a parent, come to the appointment. They will more than likely be the one taking care of everything when you pass. I have had many of these appointments. We will get through it! I promise that you will feel better after having had “the discussion.” Now you know why life insurance is personal with me. I hope you found this article beneficial, and hopefully it gets you to have that discussion with your insurance agent. If you don’t have one, let me be the guy!
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AuthorDave Owens, Owner/Agent. I have proudly served in the Insurance Industry for over 20 years. Archives
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