Life insurance – the one financial product that does what you intended it to do

By Craig Floyd

It seems like life has a nasty way of turning out different than we expected it to. I little lesson I learned this week might illustrate what I’m trying to say.

A piece of equipment that we depend on 365 days a year in our little raspberry farm is a walk-in freezer. Each year at harvest we fill 200-400 4 gallon buckets with 30 pounds each of raspberries and place them in a walk-in freezer. Then throughout the year as we need them we take the buckets out of the freezer, thaw them and make jam, jelly, syrup and other delicious raspberry products.

It came to our attention that the freezer was not holding a freezing temperature. A repairman was called and diagnosed the problem. It was apparent to us that a new unit would be more cost-effective than fixing the 20-year-old unit that we now have. Since harvest is just around the corner and the freezer is as empty as it will be any time of the year we started to research different replacement options. It turns out that a new walk-in freezer is very expensive but we found a used freezer for far less money and talking to the man that was selling it we felt that very possibly this would be our best option. The man represented the freezer to us as only having two years of use before the business that had the freezer went out of business. The freezer was the right size and all elements seem to be just what we needed. We were excited to think that we could save a large amount of money and so quickly made arrangements to drive the 300 mile round-trip to get the freezer.

Imagine our disappointment as we drove in to the facility where we were to pick up the freezer and saw rust, misfit parts, a door without hinges, and just a real mess instead of what we thought would be a lightly used freezer. Needless to say we immediately turned down the opportunity to buy this freezer, shaking our heads in disgust knowing that the promises made and descriptions given were far from reality. We hoped that this unit would answer our needs now and for many years to come. We hoped that financially we would be better off with this unit. Our hopes were dashed!

How does this relate to insurance and your financial future? You see the majority of Americans are hoping that the investments that they are now participating in will be appropriate after they have made life’s journey and are ready for retirement. I often use the phrase “hope is not a financial plan.”

How would it feel to make your journey through life and find that the promises made and descriptions given for the placement of your money were far from reality? You had hoped that your investments would answer your needs throughout your life. The reality is the investment markets and the tax structure at your retirement age will most likely be different than the description you might have been given today. Where will you turn, can you start over, will you have the health and strength to work more years?

Having spent almost 30 years in the financial services industry I only know of one financial product that actually does, by contract, what it says it will and what you intended it to do… A properly designed Life Insurance policy. The package of benefits associated with life insurance will astound you.

Don’t leave your future to hope, live with confidence.