Being Prepared is NOT Bad Mojo.

In my work with clients, I am always asking questions about life insurance. It's a "thing" with me because it is the only sure thing we will all face at some point. Death is no respecter of persons. It doesn't care your race, age, or level of happiness. Death is a part of life (deep, huh?). In my discussions with people, I usually bring up children. Those that tell me they have children, I ask the question, "Do you have life insurance on your kids?" It seemed like an innocent enough question but as the time goes by I am finding many people get uncomfortable with the question. I've had clients tell me they wouldn't get life insurance on their children because it was as if they were hoping for them to die or wishing bad "mojo" on them. I've also had clients who felt it unnecessary because they (as parents) would be all their children needed to keep them safe. I never speak against people and their feelings or their reasoning behind making decisions like this with these as reasons, but I have also been face with some realities that makes the question even more important...no matter how uncomfortable it is for me to ask. I have three strong reasons for every parent (or person who knows people with children) to consider acquiring life insurance for children.

1 - No discounts at the funeral home. I have said in meetings before that there are no discounts for a smaller casket. It may sound cruel or too direct, but some of my clients and companies need a dose of reality as they feel "they got this". Funeral homes and certain states MAY have a set up to get financial assistance in certain cases. As a rule, the funeral for a child is expected to be paid for like any other funeral. Most people I know don't have thousands of dollars for a funeral just sitting around in a savings account. Funeral homes stay in business because it is just that...a business. The good news is, having a policy in place will make a horrible situation slightly better when it comes to making those final arrangements with the funeral home.

2 - It's the cheapest it will ever be. Life insurance is priced based on health, tobacco use, and mortality. Mortality is that table that tells us how close to death people are (on average). It makes sense that a child will be in premiere health and they are (on average) far away from that age of mortality. That means the risk of them dying soon is almost non-existent (according to the numbers) and life insurance companies will write that all day. Now, I don't think price should be a consideration when it comes to common sense, but we all have budgets and things to consider. The better news is that when they are at their young age, any kind of policy is available for a steal.

3 - Stuff happens. It's a safe bet that you could open a paper to the obituary section and find the announcement of a young child having passed away. It saddens us. It destroys a family. We read of stories of negligence, accidents, and unexpected situations that take a young life. The reality is that life happens. Death happens. Parents are very dutiful in protecting their families by getting life insurance for themselves if something unexpected happens. They owe it to themselves to do the same with a small policy to cover the "what if" that happens to children almost daily.

PERSONAL STORY: My dad did this for me. When I was 2 years old, my dad got a small whole life policy in my name with a face amount of $20,000.00. The following year, I was diagnosed with an incurable kidney disorder. In life insurance terms that means I am not insurable under most circumstances. He passed this policy on to me when I got married so I would have a base to start with to leave my new bride in the event something happened. I paid a whopping $10.00 a month for this policy while I held it. Since then, I have found other means for life insurance, but this was crucial for me. Thanks dad.

This post is not meant to be a downer. The goal is to be a call to all responsible adults who have children or grandchildren or friends with children. No one wants to think about the death of a child but it can happen. In most cases a policy that can cover children would be less than $20.00 a month. This amount would get more than enough to cover final expenses so the financial aspect of a devastating event like the loss of a child would be handled.

If you find yourself in the need to consider life insurance for those who count on you to provide them with their daily needs for survival (pssst, grandparents can do this too), call me (205-370-8453). Email me (gene@generamsay.com). Text me (205-370-8453). We'll talk options and pick what is right for you.

It's Never Too Late! Or Is it?

How many times have we heard the phrase, "It's never too late." We hear it used when people say things like, "I wish I had...", "I'd like to do...", "If only I'd...". Then we say "It's never too late". In areas like this that very well may be the case. Life is to be lived and in many cases you can do those things you've always wanted to do any time in your life. However, there may be areas where we miss the mark and the opportunity comes and then it's gone and it can be too late. I find this to be the case when we talk about decisions made about insurance and benefits people have access to. We see this to be especially true when it comes to disability and life insurance. I'll explain.

With life insurance, this concept is obvious. We only have so many days on this earth. Many of us have the desire to live life to the fullest. That's great until something happens and life ends up being much shorter than we had planned. In our lives, most of us have OTHERS to think about if something happens to us. Sure, you can approach it like, "Hey, I'm dead...what do I care." but if we stop and think for two seconds we realize that the people in our lives matter more to us than that and we need to make some provisions if our "carpe diem" mentality backfires. Death is inevitable no matter the age, health, or life situations. Being prepared with some basic life insurance will help those around you sleep a little better.
Another area is how life can throw us an illness or something that might keep us from being able to get life insurance. I have never seen people more upset and dejected when I get into an application for life insurance and I see that they have some health conditions which will either raise their premiums or cause them to be unable to gain life insurance by normal means. Younger people fall into the trap of feeling that disease and health issues will happen later so they decide to wait. Then one day they wake up with Type 2 Diabetes or they have a heart attack. Suddenly they feel like they have a chink in their invincibility armor and the "what if" question comes up. So, they run out and try to feel better by getting a life policy only to find that their recent situation makes the insurance company say, "Um...I don't think so."
In either of these cases there are always secondary options. With my main advisor capacity using voluntary life insurance through an employer I can usually make someone's day who has had trouble in the past with acquiring life insurance. I've even been able to get someone in cancer treatments get life coverage through work so I know it's possible. If I can't through those means, I have access to other carriers and professionals who offer higher risk policies. Sure, the premiums are higher but that's one of the prices of waiting.

Disability is another tough one but easier to understand. Many times someone is offered disability insurance to cover their paycheck and they pass because they've worked for years and never been out more than a day or two for anything. It's also true that people are more likely to die than suffer a long disability. This is where I will address the ladies. In pregnancy, you're out AT LEAST 6 weeks. Your FMLA keeps your job but doesn't pay you a dime and you have to have been at that job for at least a year before you are eligible to get FMLA. Disability coverage lets you enjoy your time with your little one and have the knowledge of knowing that you will at least get a paycheck or two while you are out. Unfortunately, I get too many calls in a year from clients asking to get on disability insurance who just got back to work from a disabling event or some young lady who found out 3 weeks ago she was pregnant and needs coverage. At that point my hands are tied and it is too late. I have to explain that they can still get the coverage, but that the policy will not help them in the pregnancy or for that condition they just dealt with on this go around.

Waiting is tough for the person, but it's tough on me too. I don't like telling people I can't help them. It's like I'm Superman and I'm trying to save someone from falling to the ground but they lined their pockets with kryptonite. I can try but in the end there is little I can do and that pains me.

So, how do handle these dilemmas? It's simple. When you get offers through work or personal means to help you plan for the future, think twice. Think about others who are counting on you. Think about how it will feel to have to ask to borrow money to get by or have to take out a loan. With benefits, you pay a small price today that could save you and/or your family a lot of heartache and pocket ache.

Do you have people you know who need to hear this? Do you want to help those who aren't helping themselves because they don't know where to go. With us being at the beginning of a new year, it may be time to start adopting the approach of helping others not miss an opportunity to help themselves. Contact me and let's see about setting up an advisory session where I can help you remind people of these valuable things. At least then we can say we tried. I find that imparting education and knowledge in these areas is key and even if they still say "No", they have done so in full light of the facts and possibilities.

Spend the next 16 minutes smiling with Steve Mazan as he reminds us that in some areas it's never too late:

Life Myth Busted: Size DOES Matter To Women

Those of you who know me are probably dying to know what this blog post is about based on the title I gave it. I had to get your attention. What I am about to say is important to everyone who opened this blog post. The first thing I have to do is amend the title right here.  It should read, "Life Myth Busted: Size DOES Matter to Women...and everyone else in your life."

The key phrase is "Life Myth Busted" because I am indeed going to break down something I am VERY passionate about and that's life insurance. For those of you who are suddenly looking for the X in the upper corner, hear me out and let me get this information out to you so at least I know you can go from today on being informed and letting me do what I love...help people.

In the last few months, I have had at least 4 death claims pass across my desk. I am always saddened when I see them. A life has been lost and that's a harsh reality. Do you want to know what's even harsher? Not having any life insurance for the family or not having ENOUGH life insurance to leave behind for little more than a dug hole and pine box. I have heard the phrase, "I had not idea that they..." You can finish the sentence with "I had no idea that they...didn't have any life insurance" OR "I had not idea that they...let their life insurance expire" OR "I had no idea that they...only had a $5,000 burial policy".

No offense here, but the deceased could care less how you pay for their funeral or their final expenses. It's no longer their issue. They left it with you. If you are reading this and this has happened, you've probably looked at a photo of the deceased and said out loud, "Thanks for that." Passing away is a costly proposition and it does not just end with a funeral. Bills, taxes, mortgages, investments...they all add up to a dollar amount and without enough the project of getting it all worked out when the loved one has passed away just became a BIG bill.

The reason why I specifically mentioned "women" in the title is to not only get your attention, but to remind all the "invincible" men out there that those spouses and loved ones you leave behind need you to be responsible men and be sure that you leave them with more than enough to keep going.

TRUE STORY: I was speaking with a client years ago. He was a man in his late 40's with a wife and 3 little girls. He came to me for a benefits counseling session at his work. As we talked about life insurance I noted how his demeanor changed and he got kind of surly when he said, "I'm not getting any life insurance because I don't want some other guy sitting in my easy chair." My response to him was just about as blunt when I said, "Without some sort of financial protection for your wife and girls, you don't give them any other choice." He considered my statement carefully before declining the life insurance. He died 6 months later in a motor cycle accident.

My final encouragement to men...and women...is to be sure you have "done the math" as to what amount of life insurance will help get your family through financially after you are gone. No one wants to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one...and a house...and the ability to feed and clothe children...and a way of life is MUCH more devastating because it's a constant reminder.

With life insure, I encourage everyone reading this to consider the following:

1 - AMOUNT. The fact that your employer pays for a $15,000 policy for you is a nice benefit, but in today's world it barely gets the funeral set. This is where "size does matter" so be sure it fits the needs of everyone you would leave behind. No one wants to be paying for your burial for 5 years on a payment plan.

2 - TYPE: Each person is different in terms of need, but it's not that difficult to figure out what you need for NOW. As life moves on you can adjust as needed. There are about 3 basic life policies out there to concern yourself with on a starting basis. Consult with a life insurance adviser to find the type of policy that is right for you.

3 - WHO/WHAT: All life insurance needs a beneficiary. This is the person who gets the funds so that things can be handled properly and in order when you are gone. Whoever or whatever you choose to leave this money to is the one you select to shut down the final pages of your life here on Earth. Choose wisely and adjust as needed.

4 - BUDGET: This sort of goes with the type you pick because what you can spend might be limited. The good news is there are decent policies out there for as little as $10.00 a month for $50,000 of death benefit (depending on how long you wait to get it). Financial advisers will advise one way and some even put you on the right path. However, insurance agents get licensed for a reason and we take our state exam for a reason. WE are the ones who deal in life insurance. Try not to get your banker and us confused.

My next blog will be to discuss the different types of life insurance and basically how they work and who might benefit from considering the different options.

In the meantime, do your homework. Figure out what you have now and what you need. Again, if you are reading this, this applies to you. No one is exempt (unless of course you have a bursting bank account with enough to be buried in your own pyramid in Egypt...then you're good).

What some advice? I'm available via email (gene@generamsay.com), this blog (comments section or email), facebook (Gene Ramsay - The Insurance Man), Twitter (Gene_Ramsay), and text (205-370-8453). I get texts from my trumpet students, friends and family...so why not you? I'd be more than happy to field your questions in whatever way is comfortable for you. People always seem to have "a guy" for everything. I can be your "Bugling Benefits Guy"...if you'll let me.

If you want to hear about it from comedienne Molly Shannon, here she is talking about what you just read:

If you prefer to hear from the Cake Boss himself on the subject, here you go:

Life Insurance: Need vs. Financial Discipline

In my professional career, I help people.  The biggest way I do that is through making sure that every individual knows some things about life insurance.  I want to be sure they know:
1 - No one likes life insurance.
2 - Everyone needs life insurance.
3 - There are different kinds of life insurance.
The first one may seem odd to say coming from me, but it's true.  It goes hand in hand with #2 and it becomes a "necessary evil".
Two of the main questions I get from people with regards to life insurance are, "What are the different kinds of life insurance?" and "What kind of insurance do I need?"  As you can imagine the first one is pretty easy for me to explain but the second question gets fairly personal.  The only way I can get the answer is through asking some personal questions and getting people to see how each kind of life insurance is there to fill a need of some kind.
Throughout the fact-finding process, many time it's uncovered that people have taken some time to listen to financial advisors, like Dave Ramsey, to help them decide the approach to take that makes the most financial sense.  I can applaud their desire to make this move and it usually signifies a person who is looking to get something for themselves and their family that makes insurance sense and financial sense.
Fortunately I am aware of Dave Ramsey's main points on life insurance and I try to be responsible to my client as well as not offend Dave and his concepts for wealth management (which I appreciate very much).
The financial advisor has done their homework and they understand that term life is inexpensive and that whole life is more expensive.  That's the easy part.  The next thing they want you to be able to do it look at how much life insurance you need at that given time.  Now, the way the financial advisor sees it is that a person should be able to take that amount of death benefit and do the math to see what a whole life type policy would cost and then compare it to a term policy.  99% of  the time, the term policy is substantially less expensive.  The financial advisor explains why they only need term life and that what they should do with the money they are "saving" by not getting a whole life option is to invest it into a savings account or something so that when the term life expires, they no longer need to purchase life insurance because they have funded their own death benefit with the savings account they started.

The concept is brilliant and I agree totally.  However, the snags come in a couple of areas:
1 - The client may not be as committed to this savings as they may have led the advisor to be they were at the time they were meeting.  It never fails.  We get our finances in order and we're excited that we can see a positive turn in our debt to income ratio.  We see ourselves finally taking control of ourselves and we commit to do better from that moment on.  The reality sets in and the realization of life steps in a throws a big expense at us we were not expecting.  Maybe we had time to squirrel away money for our grand plan, but when this unexpected thing happened we reached for our cash.  That savings plan was used to handle the "rainy day" and came in handy but now we're down to $0.00 and we start all over again.  The plan we laid out has just taken a hit and we're behind a big 8-ball.  The time for our term insurance to expire comes to an end (20 or 30 years later) and we realize that we did not self-fund our insurance like we had planned because life happened.  Our intentions were good but our reality set us back.
2 - No one can tell you your last day (except God).  We all want to believe that in 20 years we could accumulate enough money to fund our own burial and final expenses, but does anyone really know what that amount is?  Right now, in my state, the average funeral cost is $12,000.00.  That number will not get smaller as land for cemeteries will be depleted making it more expensive due to costs.  The reality of term life insurance is that it's only good if you die in the term you purchased it for.  Chances are that you are more likely to outlive your term life insurance and then you have the knowledge that you spent all that money and it's gone.  The naughty little secret of life insurance is that the insurance carriers all have an idea (based on research and averages) how long you will live.  Why do you think term life is so inexpensive?  If every financial advisor who ONLY focused on term life could tell their clients when they were going to die, then we could all buy term insurance for the number of years we would need and call it a day.
SO...WHAT'S THE ANSWER?
It's different for everyone, but the best bet is to look at both sides of the coin and NOT overspend.  Term life insurance is there for the times in your life where your dying prematurely could seriously effect a family or property.  The whole life option is more likely to be what we die with.  My advice...when you have need of life insurance it to try and mix it up.  Just like with investing, don't put all your money in one thing.  Fill the momentary need to leave larger amounts with term life. Do this when leaving those larger amounts makes sense. You also should  think of the time long past those need years and have something waiting for you and your loved ones when the term life insurance expires (because no one wants to pay rates at the end of a term...trust me) with a whole life-type option.  If you do this early enough in life, your expenses for life insurance are kept in check and you are even likely to still be able to save something for a rainy day.  Also, since whole life does accumulate some cash value, if that rainy day is more than you have you may be able to borrow from the funds you have still accumulated through the whole life insurance.
Please understand, everyone is different but the basic rules should still apply with life insurance.  The key is that whenever your final day is that you have money for your final expenses without the family you left behind having to take out a loan or "pass the hat" at your funeral.  It's YOUR final day...don't make someone else have to pay for it.
If you have any life insurance questions, comments, or needs please feel free to email me at gene@generamsay.com.  I'm an email away.

Welcome to The Ramsay Bugle...Blog Style!

Hello all.  This blog is new for me for 2011.  In an effort to be of the best service and provide my friends and fans with the most and best information, I needed a platform that would allow me the flexibility you need and an avenue where I can bring the most information to you.  This new blog will also allow me the ability to post more things without attacking your inbox.
I will continue to do the Constant Contact newsletter for everyone on my email list.  If you are not on that list, I will be posting many of the main articles that I send to everyone in that venue.  Why not just do the blog?  When I asked all of my friends and fans what THEY wanted, many came back with just keeping the newsletter with others stating that an online blog would be a good idea.  The newsletter is once a month and does take some doing to put together.  The blog I can write and/or post as I am inspired and have time.  Many of my friends and fans follow me on Twitter (@RGRamsay), Facebook (Gene Ramsay - The Insurance Man), and LinkedIn.com.  Those people will be notified every time I post here.  So basically, if you want to stay connected with me on all levels, follow me here by subscribing to this blog and connecting with me on the various social networking sites as well as getting on my email list.
Thank you to all of you for asking for this and being willing to be a part of my life in business and otherwise.  I hope to bring everyone here timely and valid info with regards to the insurance industry as well as other things I am involved in as they happen.  I feel it is KEY (for those out there who want to know me for business purposes and social purposes) for me to share on this blog who I am and what I do.  I can state all day long that you should work with or connect with me in some capacity so you know what you're getting when you contact me.
Lastly, if you ever have questions or comments, feel free to contact me through here.  I always try to be a phone call or an email away...so let me know what I can do to serve.
Step into my office...