[B]Life Insurance: Now More Than Ever [/B]
Recession, layoffs and falling stock and bond prices seem to be
knocking over the pillars of our financial security, one by one.
Many of us have either lost a job or have a friend or family member
who has. All of us have been hit with painful losses in the value
of our homes and in our savings and investment accounts. One source
of financial security still stands strong, however, and that’s life
insurance.
While so many aspects of people’s financial lives look bleak at
the moment, life insurance continues to do exactly what it was
designed to — serve as the foundation of your family’s financial
security. If you own a term life policy, the death benefit it would
pay if you died tomorrow is unchanged from a week, a month or a
year ago. If you own a whole life policy, your death benefit is
also guaranteed and your cash values have actually grown over the
past year, not declined. In this tumultuous economy, you can take
comfort in knowing that life insurance — whatever type you may own
or intend to buy — can provide some certainty and stability at a
time when both are in short supply.
While it may seem difficult nowadays to look beyond the bills
that are due at the end of the month, you should consider buying
life insurance or adding to existing coverage. It will provide an
anchor of stability to your family finances, ensuring that your
loved ones will be financially secure when you die.
Real life example:
Ebony and Shanna Blanchard - A Mother's Wish
W hen Jackie Blanchard's husband died at a young age, with only
enough life insurance to pay for his funeral, Jackie vowed that her
young daughters, Ebony and Shanna, would be financially secure if
anything ever happened to her. To keep this promise, Jackie
immediately scheduled an appointment with insurance agent Virginia
Acosta, FICF. "She said she wanted the best insurance she could
buy, and I made sure her family would be protected," says
Virginia.
Two years after purchasing her policy, Jackie became ill with a
lung infection and was later diagnosed with lung cancer. Because
the illness prevented her from working, a provision in her policy
covered the payment of her premiums while the policy's disability
benefit helped cover mounting health care costs. Despite her
illness, Jackie's zest for life was unstoppable. She took a
cross-country road trip with her mom and daughters and even
continued to organize parties and dinners for family and
friends.
When she found out that her condition was terminal, the
accelerated death benefit provision allowed Jackie to access up to
75 percent of her benefits while still alive. She used those
proceeds to finance a home and a car for her daughters and parents,
and pre-pay her funeral. She even put some money away for college
for her daughters.
Jackie died at age 38. But her dreams for the girls are very much
alive. Ebony, who graduated with honors from college this year, and
Shanna, a senior in high school, live with their grandparents in
the home their mother purchased for them. "Jackie wanted the girls
to have the best education and the same lifestyle after she was
gone," Jackie's mom Veordia says. "That's why she chose insurance,
to help them along the way. That was her greatest wish."
Adapted from http://www.lifehappens.org
Feel free to look through the website, provides very gd and indept
information on insurance needs & wants.