Who Needs Life Insurance? Maybe you!

Okay, you are surfing though insurance web sites so a few remarks about the value of Life Insurance can be expected.

LIMRA International, a venerable and highly respected international life insurance research and consulting organization, recently released the results of a study covering the years from 1960 through 2004. That study determined that ownership of individual life insurance policies by U.S. adults dropped from 59% in 1960, to 41%, in 2004. Meanwhile, ownership of Group (employer provided) life insurance increased from 24% to 40% over that same period of time. (Read, "I only want it if the company pays for it.")

Some encouraging news is that those who do own individual insurance policies maintain an average $169,700 death benefit, a 33% increase since 1998, adjusted for inflation. Of those husbands earning $100,000 or more each year, 91% own an average $571,400 death benefit. However, while women have been gaining ground over the years, their ownership of life insurance is only 63% of the average coverage on men.

What this study also tells us is that millions, 60% of U.S. Adults, own no life insurance. Are you one of them? As we dash about maxing out our credit cards, buying the house we must strain to pay for, spending 120% of both spouses' pay checks every month, saving less than 2% for emergency needs, what happens if the cash flow is cut in half...or worse...today? If you think that will only happen to somebody else, watch the late news tonight to see who in your town left home for work this morning but will never return due to an accident or a sudden M.I...and how many of those never make the news? Their problems are over. The problems for their families and businesses are just beginning.

Buying life insurance is a loving, unselfish act, and that is the rub. It says a lot about our national attitude toward those who love us and rely on us, that so many of us are willing to leave them to twist in the wind if death shows up unexpectedly. Don't be one of "them". Instead, embrace your obligations and hedge your bets with life insurance. Honestly, it will make you feel better next time you find yourself barrelling down the interstate and see another driver do something really dumb.