September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, and this year, the topic feels a little more personal.
Recently, my husband, Tarif, and I attended the funeral of a close family member who passed away unexpectedly. Like so many families experience, there was no warning. No time to prepare emotionally or an opportunity to get everything in order one last time. One day, life was moving along as usual, and then suddenly, everything changed.
It was a reminder of something none of us really likes to think about: life can change in an instant.
As a financial planner, I talk about life insurance with clients regularly. We discuss coverage amounts, beneficiaries, term policies, employer benefits, and how insurance fits into an overall financial plan. But sitting at a funeral reminds you that life insurance isn't really about any of those things. It's about the people who are left behind.
Grief Is Hard Enough Without a Financial Crisis
When someone dies unexpectedly, their family doesn't get to put the bills on pause while they grieve.
- The mortgage or rent is still due.
- Groceries still need to be purchased.
- Children still need to be cared for.
- Tuition still needs to be paid.
- There may be funeral expenses, medical bills, debts, or other immediate costs.
If the person who passed away contributed financially to the household, the family may also suddenly be trying to figure out how to maintain their lives with significantly less income.
That's what life insurance is designed to help protect against. It can't replace a spouse, a parent, or someone you love, and it certainly can't make grief easier. But it can give a family time, options, and financial stability when their world has already been turned upside down.
Life Insurance Is an Act of Love
I think sometimes we approach life insurance as another financial product we are supposed to buy. I see it differently. Life insurance is one of the ways we take care of our families even when we are no longer here to do it ourselves.
A life insurance benefit might allow a surviving spouse to stay in the family home instead of having to sell it immediately. It might give a parent the flexibility to take time away from work to help their children grieve. It might pay off debt so the surviving family isn't trying to manage monthly payments on one income, or provide money for college so a child's future doesn't have to change because a parent is no longer there. For a business owner, it may provide resources to keep the business operating or simply give the family time to decide what comes next.
Sometimes the greatest value of life insurance isn't the money itself. It's the choices that money gives the people you love.
Having Life Insurance Isn't Always Enough
One of the conversations I have with clients is that simply having a policy doesn't necessarily mean you're adequately protected.
Maybe you purchased a policy when you first got married, but now you have children. Maybe you've purchased a home, your income has increased significantly, or you've started a business. Maybe you now have aging parents or other family members who depend on you. Or maybe the only life insurance you have is through your employer.
As our lives change, our insurance needs can change too. That's why I believe life insurance should be reviewed periodically as part of your overall financial plan, not purchased once and forgotten.
A Few Questions Worth Asking
Life Insurance Awareness Month is a good opportunity to pull out your policy and take another look. Ask yourself:
- If I died tomorrow, would my family be financially okay?
- How much income would need to be replaced, and for how long?
- Could my family comfortably remain in our home?
- Would there be enough money to pay off or manage our debts?
- If I have children, would their education goals still be possible?
- Does my spouse or partner have enough coverage too?
- Are my beneficiaries still correct?
- Am I relying primarily on insurance through my employer?
- Has my life changed significantly since I purchased my policy?
And don't forget the stay-at-home parent. Just because someone doesn't receive a paycheck doesn't mean their contribution to the household doesn't have significant financial value. Childcare, transportation, household management, and everything else they provide would have a real cost if someone else had to step in.
Don't Wait for the "Right Time"
There will probably never be a comfortable time to talk about death. It's uncomfortable when you're 30, it's uncomfortable when you're 45, and it's uncomfortable when you're 65. But the conversation isn't really about dying. It's about protecting the life you've worked so hard to build.
Leaving the funeral that day, Tarif and I were reminded again that tomorrow is never guaranteed. And while we can't prepare emotionally for every loss, there are things we can put in place financially to make sure the people we love aren't left trying to figure everything out while they're grieving.
If you have life insurance but haven't looked at your coverage in years, pull out the policy and review it. If you're relying entirely on coverage through work, understand exactly what you have and what happens to that coverage if you leave your employer. And if you don't have coverage at all, now is a good time to have the conversation.
This isn't about living your life expecting the worst to happen. It's about recognizing that the people we love deserve to have some financial security even during one of the hardest moments of their lives.
Life insurance isn't really for you. It's for the people you leave behind.