Are you familiar with the story of The Ant and the Grasshopper? The gist of the story is this: during the summer the ant is storing food away for the winter, while the grasshopper is just being idle and goofing off. Once winter comes, the ant is prepared and has food stockpiled to make it through the winter, while the grasshopper does not.
Beyond the obvious (avoid laziness), there is an important lesson here about preparation. One day, winter (or low points in our lives) will come for all of us, and whether or not we can make it through successfully or not comes down to how well prepared we are.
This is where life insurance comes into play. Life insurance is designed exactly for that: preparation. In the case that you or a loved one passes away, those affected received money to help cover funeral costs, as well as living costs and such. The wise ants among us understand this concept and stick by it. But there are some of us that think their situation or lot in life doesn’t require them to have life insurance. Let’s go through a couple of varying life situations and look at how each one needs life insurance.
Imagine, if you will, a working mother and wife. She has a spouse and children that depend on her and the income she brings in. What if she were to pass away prematurely? How would those living expenses, bills, and unexpected costs get paid? Your family may not have the funds sitting around to cover everything. Life insurance would be the saving grace to help this family provide their wife and mother with a loving funeral and take care of themselves while they become reestablished.
What about those of us who are single? We may not have a spouse or kids depending on us financially, but that does not mean life insurance is pointless. If you were to pass away suddenly, your parents or other family members would have to step in to pay for your services, and possibly for any other outstanding debts you owed. I am sure the last thing we would want to do is leave our family and loved ones in debt because of us. Life insurance can help to avoid this tragic fate.
Now, let’s look at our senior community. They have most likely reached a point where they no longer have any children depending on them financially, and hopefully have saved up enough for retirement that their spouse wouldn’t have to worry about money should they pass away. But, once they do, there is still a large debt for the services that has to be covered. Not to mention, perhaps you want to leave your children with a little bit of money once you kick the bucket. Life insurance proceeds are typically income tax free, and can be acquired much quicker than typically inheritance funds can be. This is a good route to take for many people.
To end, let’s consider the moral of the story: be prepared. Life insurance is applicable to nearly all of us, regardless of our situation or lot in life. It is mostly a question of how prepared we want to be. Do we want to be ready and leave our loved ones in a good situation upon our passing, or do we want to goof off until it is too late? Like I said earlier, winter comes for all of us, and only those that are prepared will be able to see it through successfully.
