|
There was a recent article by columnist Scott Burns in the Dallas Morning News that described a university study which showed that the vast majority of American families are significantly underinsured. The study, lead by Professor Laurence J. Kotlikoff, chairman of the economics department at Boston University, had the following conclusions:
? Virtually all households are underinsured;
? Very few are overinsured;
? The most likely to be underinsured are households with younger spouses, ages 22-39 years old;
? Lack of adequate insurance accounts for most of the poverty among widows and widowers; and,
? There was almost no relationship between the amount of insurance people had and the amount they needed.
It is important to note that the researchers are academics. Thery are not life insurance sales representatives or agents. They are not putting a miniature coffin in front of you asking, God forbid, that you imagine dying today or tomorrow. If these researchers concluded we are massively underinsured, it is economics. It isn?t marketing.
The impact of being underinsured can be devastating to your family in the event you died prematurely.
In fact, the most important decision an individual can make to protect the future of their family is the purchase of a life insurance policy. Unfortunately, this is also one of the least understood decisions a person typically makes. There are several different kinds of life insurance available: term life, whole life, variable life, universal life, and various hybrids of these. We have often heard from our clients that they were afraid to talk to an insurance agent about the choices, because they did not want to be SOLD on something. Instead, they wanted information so that they could make a decision that was appropriate to their personal situation ? not one that maximized the commission plan available to the life insurance agent.
There are many common questions that arise. What are the various options? How much life insurance do I need? Is there a life insurance calculator available? How long should I make the term length (if I choose term).
Over the course of the next several weeks, we will be adding entries to this site to help you understand your various options and to provide you with some free tools to help you make the proper choices.
If you would like to get a head start on the process, feel free to browse the various help topics at http://www.gettermlifenow.com .
We will be back with more in a few days so be sure to check back.
|