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An Advisers Tale
David Holloway, CFP
I have been in the Financial Services Industry for over thirty years. Like most Practitioners of my vintage, I started off in the Life Insurance industry and was a “true believer” so much so I even lectured for the Insurance Institute and helped turn many Advisers into similar advocates of a noble profession.
Times change, people and professions change and after obtaining my CFP qualifications, I became more and more involved with helping people achieve their investment and retirement goals as opposed to proactively pursuing Insurance(s).
It is very true Insurances are of the utmost importance as many clients can attest, but through a near death experience I now realise, but for a fraction of an inch, the Life Insurance I took out when I was a “zealot” would have provided much needed funds for my family to continue their normal lifestyle. More to the point, if only one policy in a thousand results in a claim, to the family of the deceased whilst no money can bring back a loved one, life will eventually return to normal, at least from a monetary point of view.
I am lucky to be alive and proud to say I, or more to the point, my wife and family, did NOT have to make a claim. So why have I now returned to my “zealot” status and would advocate that everyone who has loved ones needs adequate (not just “token”) Life Insurance.
On a recent Sunday evening my wife and I were walking up the hill of a street adjoining our residential address. We had just left Church and were half way up the hill, she on the footpath and myself about half a metre in the road. Admittedly we were on the left hand side of the road when perhaps common sense would have dictated that we be on the right hand side (facing any oncoming traffic) but in a quiet street, on a Sunday night, who would have suspected malice. Whilst not overly light, there was little chance that any cars could not have seen pedestrians and anyway cars do not travel that close to the gutter - oh yes they do - or at least ONE did.
One minute we were having a casual conversation, the next minute the noise of my body hitting the car was heard up the street and (apparently) I was flying through the air before landing crushed and bruised on the footpath.
I did not hear the car, the driver did not stop and all I remember was waking from a drunken like stupor and asking my wife to “take me home as I didn’t feel too well”.
Between hazy recollections, lots of blood, people, police etc. I remember the Ambulance Officers cutting off my clothes and putting a brace on my neck. Next thing, assuring my wife I had been “stabilised” they took me to the hospital where I had my first (and last I hope) experience of a casualty department and subsequently intensive care ward.
I could write a separate expose on the hospital experience and the fact that I encountered other patients in the intensive care ward who also reaffirmed my belief in Critical Illness Insurance and of course Income Protection Insurance but WHY have I confirmed my faith in the need for adequate Life Insurance when fortunately my relatives (spouse in particular) did not need to make a claim.
When I woke up from the effects of slight bleeding in the brain, bruising to lungs, heart and body but miraculously no broken bones and after the effects of morphine had subsided, I began to realise a fact which hitherto had escaped me.
Most mere mortals consider themselves indestructible as young folk and, to a large degree, this feeling continues even after the effect of old age tries to instruct our now more frail bodies that this is no longer the case.
Medical Science assists us overcome many illnesses and we take for granted we will live to a ripe old age and die in our beds.
On the other hand, from an every day perspective, whilst relatives and the patients find it hard to live with the diagnosis of cancer, stroke, heart attack and the many other prevalent causes of premature death, in most instances everyone has TIME to adapt to death. Time to prepare oftentimes both mentally and financially BUT what about the husband who leaves home one morning and doesn’t return; the son who goes fishing and is lost at sea; the wife who takes the kids to school and collides with a car going through a stop sign or, as in my case, a hit and run victim. Most likely these events from a statistical point of view only represent a very small percentage of premature deaths BUT statistics don’t mean a thing if YOU or YOUR family are the ones involved.
Lying in hospital feeling sorry for myself and asking why, but at the same time, thanking God for the fact that I was still alive, I realised that even though this event wouldn’t be a claim on my Trauma Policy or Income Protection Insurance (apart from a small hospitalisation benefit) had the unthinkable happened, at least any outstanding debts I have would have been settled and my wife and family would have had enough to assist with their ongoing lifestyle.
As a result of this experience, I have realised people are far more important than property and the love of family and friends is what life is all about.
I resolved never to leave home or go to bed angry just in case I never got a chance to say sorry and I resolved to tell my clients, associates and all who will listen, that no one likes to think of their own mortality and no one expects their family to make a claim on Life Insurance and no one likes to pay premiums for something from which they personally will never benefit, BUT isn’t the small price one pays worth it JUST IN CASE for their peace of mind.
For more information please contact David Holloway – davidh@msitaylor.com.au
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