This post talks about the important role of life insurance – especially ‘term insurance’ policies in financial wellbeing. If you already have a term insurance cover, feel free to to skip the post
There’s been a spate of awfully early demises covered in the media lately. Perfectly healthy young men and women, barely in their 40s have succumbed to cardiac arrests, other to undiagnosed illnesses.
Two close friends of mine, both in their mid-30s surprised me two weeks ago, when they both mentioned that they didn’t have a term life insurance cover.
One even went,
‘Why? Why do I need term insurance?’
My jaw dropped
They both have dependents. And their net-worth is certainly not high enough for them to not need life insurance. One among the two has an MBA from a prestigious college, and had recently signed up for a Demat account, since he wanted to dabble in stocks. The other often spoke about how he too was well-invested in mutual funds (and at one time in Bitcoins), and about how he had the basics of personal finances covered.
So for all these years, I never once suspected that they wouldn’t have life insurance cover. It’s the most fundamental must-have of financial planning after all.
The good news is that, after an animated discussion that night, both of them now have term life insurance on their mind, and are one step closer to getting their lives covered.
Untimely deaths and sudden demises, like the ones from the slideshow here, should help you understand how important it is to have life coverage. Things you’ve taken for granted, like the fact that you’ve assumed that you will wake up tomorrow, can shock your family and friends in painful ways. You’ll be gone, and will have little to worry of course. Your dependents will instead be left to deal with both an emotional and a financial aftermath. And the financial aftermath could’ve been easily prevented.
The possibility of a loss of life needs to be dealt with as much practicality, as life itself.
No doubt that a life insurance cover can’t reduce the emotional upheaval which comes with a such an event. But it can eliminate the financial distress, so your family can concentrate on picking up the pieces and getting life back to a state of normalcy.
But that isn’t the key point here?
The bigger point is that financials aside, in case you’ve been living in an extended period of misery, either due to having taken on mountains of financial liability purely due to social pressures, or due to a relationship gone irrevocably wrong, you need to take a moment and decide on a new course of action. Life can be too short for us to allow space for a prolonged, self-inflicted misery. And if it is in your hands to change things, you should.
You need to work towards becoming a happier, more content individual.
Based on how your life is currently, ask yourself as to what your thoughts would be, if you somehow found yourselves breathing your last breaths.
Would you say to yourself,
‘I’ve lived a good life. I’ve been kind to those around me and they’ve been kind to me. I’ve been reasonably happy and content. And I’ve loved and been given plenty of it.‘
Or would you say,
‘I wish I had the courage to change things.‘
There is very little point in living stressfully, unhappily, for years and years on end; especially when the circumstances can be changed. So if there’s something within your means that you can change, make a plan and start working towards it with a strong intent. In due time, the universe will come together to make your intentions come true.
Because that is the way the universe is designed.
I realized I had paraphrased Paul Coelho. Here’s the original quote.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Paul Coelho
Have a good day.
Vinod
P.S: Term insurances and other such important aspects get a lot of emphasis in both the book and the The Moneyplanting Program, which teaches critical aspects of financial health.
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