Get A Life

Your death should be a time of celebrating your life - not a time for your loved ones to crowdfund asking for donations toward the final expenses that you failed to properly plan toward. My words may be heavy for some, but we have to face the reality that when we fail to plan, we create burdens for those we love most.

Not having life insurance hurts our community’s ability to build and retain wealth. Yes, many systemic factors have negatively impacted our community financially. However, buying life insurance is within our personal control. How many people have had to deplete their savings or run up their credit cards to pay for unexpected funeral costs? When we leave our families with nothing more than debt and memories at our death, we cripple their ability to build and retain wealth.

1. It’s selfish to not have life insurance - By not having life insurance we are willfully making the choice to make others pay for our own final expenses. Final expenses don’t just include funerals but also the costs of caring for dependents left behind, transferring titles of homes and possessions, settling debts, and executing wills. For business owners, the costs can be even greater to ensure that a business has enough capital to stay afloat during the difficult transition that often follows an owner’s death.

2. Not having life insurance is unfair to the grieving process - Sadness, grief, and depression are unavoidable when we lose a loved one. But fear and anxiety about financial issues caused by death is completely avoidable. So often when someone who is financially unprepared dies those two avoidable reactions get tossed into the mix. Not only is a family grieving, but they now have the immense responsibility of tying up a lifetime of financial obligations. In some cases, that responsibility is so great it can completely overshadow what would be a natural and healing time to mourn.

3. Being without life insurance leaves your legacy out of your control - 
I won’t sugarcoat this - people don’t often look back too fondly on someone leaving avoidable financial burdens and obligations. Just as we have the power to shape our time on this earth, we have the power to shape how we leave it. By obtaining life insurance you are empowering yourself to ensure that nothing - after you leave - tarnishes the time you were here.