So, Let’s Think This Life Insurance Thing To Death!

No one loves a good value better than me. I don’t take lightly buying almost anything and I really don’t take lightly committing myself to making payments for something like life insurance.

Having said that, there is a problem when people want to suck the marrow out of the shopping experience, making sure that every stone is turned and every possibility is researched.

I was talking with someone today who was taken for a ride on a universal life policy he bought 15 or so years ago. Promised that it would last forever and it is imploding before his eyes, price going up and guarantee non existent at this point. I offered several fully guaranteed options to him and he was having a hard time, even though he called the agent a crook, wrapping his mind around changing. Wanted to think about it a while longer. So I shared a story with him from last year. He is now considering the merits of making that change while he knows what his health is.

It never seems very far between stories gone bad because of shopping to long or dragging a person’s feet just a little too long. I worked with a man near retirement age last year, and the year before. He wanted an insurance policy that would allow him to maximize his retirement options. He kept putting it off because he wanted to make sure he purchased just the right amount. He was debating between $500,000 and $600,000. We worked this over for almost a year and a half. I kept explaining that he could put $500,000 in force and if, in the end, he wanted $600,000, we could add $100,000 or replace the first policy with a new one for the full amount. He didn’t have any life insurance in force and I made it clear that the suggestion above was a prudent approach.

He called one day and I had a hard time understanding him. His speech was slurred. He had a massive stroke and wanted to know if those rates I had quoted him were still good. Of course with the health change they weren’t and the options that he had kicked around for over a year went out the window.

Bottom line. I’m not against people shopping and spending their life in pursuit of the perfect policy at the perfect rate. But prudence dictates doing that from a position of power. Have insurance in force and then take your time researching the world. You can always replace a policy with a better one.