Your Values and Life Insurance…is there a disconnect?

I started my career as a Life Insurance Agent, that’s almost 20 years ago, and I’m still surprised that most people fail to realize the power of Life Insurance.  Why is that?  Why don’t most people believe in Life Insurance?  Whenever I have asked that question of my clients, the most common answers were “It costs too much money”, “I’m healthy, nothing will happen to me”, and my favorite, “I don’t need life insurance because my wife will re-marry”.  REALLY??  And yet they will also share with me how important their family is to them, how much they love them and would do just about anything for them. If you died tomorrow, how would that impact, emotionally and financially, the lives of your loved ones, your family?  What would their days and nights be like?… or feel like?

Want to know what attracted me to selling Life Insurance?  Emotionally charged conversations about values!  When you talk about Life Insurance, your values come to the surface. We also discover that what we SAY isn’t always what we DO. “Action speaks louder than words”…sound familiar?  When our actions aren’t aligned with our values, we may find ourselves feeling unfulfilled, uneasy, uncomfortable. 

Values can mean different things to different people for example, values can relate to what is desirable or has worth to you; values can represent a standard that is important to you such as, integrity, honesty, compassion; values can be thought of in terms of what we hold most dear, my family, my health, my faith.   In addition, values also determine how we spend our time, energy, skills, and money. 

I recently had lunch with a client that I hadn’t seen in a while.  Her husband had passed away during the summer of 2010.  While catching up, she said to me “You know Chris, you saved my life.”  I was dumb-founded.  I asked her what she meant.  She explained, “because of the Life Insurance you sold us.”   They purchased the coverage years ago simply because they loved each other and their children.  It was important to them to financially provide for each other even in the event of death.  The death proceeds allowed my friend to pay off the mortgage to their house that she continues to live in while raising their son.  The proceeds also helped her to expand her business and will help pay for their son’s college education. Not only did this tool provide financial security, it also created breathing room that allowed her to better deal with the emotional loss of her loved one, her husband that she adores. 

Whether we’re talking about Life Insurance or any other financial product, it’s important for you to understand the nature, influence, and importance of your values.  Values clarification will help you feel more confident when making financial (and non-financial) decisions.  In addition, your sense of financial well-being will increase when you define your priorities and make financial decisions that truly align with who you are and what is most important in your life.

“In personal financial management, the place to begin is to adopt a realistic perspective.  Money will only improve the quality of your life when it is used with clarity.  Only when you learn to spend money in concert with your underlying values–the things that you most deeply care about–will it become a tool for creating a more fulfilling life.” ~Karen Ramsey