Do you feel lucky?

You’re probably thinking; ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do you, punk?

That is one of the most memorable quotes in movie history (Dirty Harry 1971). It’s also something we do every day: we make choices. Most choices we make involve benign things like what to wear, or what to have for lunch, you know, things that aren’t really life and death decisions.  Not like whether Dirty Harry might have one bullet left.

You might think comparing choices, a quote from Dirty Harry and the purchase of life insurance is too dramatic. Our eventual death is not in question; the question is simply when that will happen. The state of our affairs at death is something that we have little control over as we don’t have a definite timeframe to plan around. Someone who is avoiding having their own life insurance plan in place is really channeling Dirty Harry: ‘Do you feel lucky? Well, do you?’

What you really want is to be organized, so that when you pass on, your affairs are in order, your debts erased, and the important people in your life are looked after. You’ll be able to move on peacefully, knowing that you have done everything you could. That level of organization rarely happens. There always seem to be a couple of details that are left and not dealt with. If you add the uncertainty of the time of your passing, then having life insurance takes care of those details. You take ‘being lucky’ out of the equation, and you are left with good planning. Life insurance is simply good advance planning. 

So far, I am only talking about life insurance to leave your affairs in order. Nothing about using life insurance for leaving a legacy, tax planning, or transfer of wealth, etc. That will be for another day.

Why are some so averse to doing any life insurance planning? The excuses:

• I’m young and healthy
• I am too old now to start
• I have no family or debt
• I can’t get insurance
• I have enough through my work
• It’s too expensive

The truth is probably that no one they truly trust has ever had life insurance really explained it to them. I sat across from a 24-year-old entrepreneur the other day who is driven, focused, and has great things that she wants to accomplish. When asked her about her current debt to make her dreams reality and what would happen if she weren’t there to look after it, a sudden look of enlightenment appeared on her face. She said what I was expecting; “No one had ever explained it to me.” She doesn’t believe in luck, rather she believes in her own hard work and making smart choices. Like getting the proper life insurance coverage in place.  Sooner rather than later. Once it was explained, there was really no question in her mind as to how she would protect herself.

Take the time to have your life insurance needs explained or re-explained to you. Find an advisor you can trust to create a plan to fit your needs. Good planning means that you don’t have to feel lucky. You’ve got it covered.