by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC
I'm going to make lemonade out of the misguided thoughts of the bitter "lemon" who has been defaming me for the last 3 months, because it's worth highlighting the level of ignorance that underscores the sad statistic that too many people fail to conduct a personal and business risk analysis and are uninsured or undersinsured.
"The Lemon," is a Caucasian man in his 40s who jointly owns a home in the Eastern United States in the suburbs of a major city, with a wife who works. The couple has several children, multiple automobiles and pets with teeth. It would be interesting to see if he has assessed his exposure to risk and how he deals with his own risk management.
For example:
1. Life insurance. On both parents? If so, how much? How is it owned?
2. Disability insurance for The Lemon and his working wife
3. Homeowners insurance. What if someone trips and falls on the Lemons' property?
4. Auto insurance. (e.g. How much is the Lemon family SUV insured for? How high are the UIM limits?
5. Long Term Care insurance. Many people save their whole lives and then lose it all due to long term care needs. Failure to buy long term care insurance insurance as a standalone or hybrid (with life insurance) is a tremendous and potentially devastating risk exposure to families that can impair quality of life.
6. Medical Insurance (High Deductible with HSA, Indemnity, HMO, PPO)
7. Retirement Plan (DB plan, 401k, profit sharing, traditional IRA, Roth)
8. Business insurance, professional liability insurance for he and his wife's respective businesses and personal umbrellas
Is "The Lemon's" liability insurer aware of the massive extent of his activities with the defamatory websites and copyright violations?
Smart risk management is part of good financial planning. In the case of injury victims, it is part of good settlement planning. People should not be chastised for having insurance.
People who buy medical insurance assure to some degree that there are a few less people on the public rolls.
Readers may not be aware of this, but in some states, such as Kentucky, the minimum auto policy limit is very low, like $25,000. So if you lose a leg because somebody is texting and runs a stop sign, and you have have no UIM coverage, you're netting $16,666.67 if your lawyer has no expenses. Basically you're S.O.L. You can't even cover the lifetime replacement cost of a decent prosthetic. If someone in Kentucky has a $500,000 policy and possibly an umbrella, and you are injured due to an unfortunate accident caused by them, their foresight to buy insurance could be the deciding factor on whether or not you go on public assistance.
Husband Who "Didn't believe in life insurance" Died in Plane crash
I recall speaking with a husband and wife (the wife a sister of one of my life insurance clients) and he vehemently stated that he didn't believe in life insurance. Fair enough. We all make choices in life. No matter how hard I tried, he refused to buy. Sometime later he perished in an airline crash on the way to Europe. I'm not sure of the details of the recovery his widow received from the litigation over the crash, or what life was like financially during the interim between accident and lawsuit recovery, however the decision not to carry life insurance was his choice.
Having no life insurance does not help assure the mortgage is paid, that your kids will receive an education. Together with the lack of a business buy-sell agreement it could mean that your partner's spouse is in business with you 50/50 even if he or she has no experience in the trade.
It is very important to have life insurance. It makes you feel secure that if anything happens to you, your investments will help your family later.
Thanks for this article!!
Posted by: Financial Planning Association | June 08, 2012 at 07:48 AM