Adjusting to the New Times: One Example of Economic Responsibility

I got a call from a prospect recently. His wife just lost her job as the accounting supervisor at a real estate development company. He said he needed to get a life policy on himself as a result.

"Wow," I thought. "This guy just suffered about a 40% drop in his total family income," I guessed, "and he wants to add to his monthly outlay?"

"You know, most people want to cut out expenses when a spouse looses a job. But you're wanting to increase you monthly expenses?"

"No, not at all. We're going to reduce our monthly budget. We have to. That BMW I'm leasing is going back. That's $395 a month, plus tags, taxes, gas, and insurance. So I figure there's an easy $500 a month in savings. We've cancelled our vacation plans for this year. That'll save $4500. We're stopping eating out. That's worth at least a couple hundred a month. And my Harley's for sale. That should bring in 15 Grand. But you know how tough the job market is right now. And I'm the only provider for the family. It's hard now-- can you imagine what it'll be like for my wife and kids if I were to die? They'd be destitute."

I thought this was incredible. The man was looking at "the worst that can happen." It was bad for his wife to loose her job. It would be the worst if she had to head up the family in this economic climate and jobless.

Reality was the policy wasn't expensive for the man. Under $50 a month. But the face amount would replace his income. And, it bought better sleep every night for him and his wife...knowing that if the worst did happen, the family would be taken care of.