In case you missed it, we had a bit of rough weather on Monday. Actually, that might be an understatement given that tornadoes were involved with at least a foot of rain and hail.  Oh, and wind.  I forgot to mention the wind . . . but I guess that’s kinda understood when I use the word “tornadoes”.

At the funeral home everyone was looking for a safe place to park their vehicle. I even called my daughter and suggested she bring her relatively new car to our carport since her garage is currently in use as a construction area for their bathroom renovation.  After all, hail can do a number on a car or truck and no one really wants to drive around with dings and dimples all over the top of their ride.

Fortunately, most everyone’s stuff survived unscathed although one employee did lose several sheets of tin off the top of his barn. They managed to blow over his house and end up in the front yard.  Or maybe it was the side yard.  I guess that would depend on the location of the barn relative to the house.  Wherever the tin landed, it was far, far away from where it should have been.

Now most of us have insurance to cover any damage to our property, probably even from acts of God or the wrath of Mother Nature. But at the very least, if our house blows away we have something in place to begin putting it back—and to replace all the stuff inside.  The same goes for vehicles damaged in accidents or valuable livestock used for showing or breeding—or many other items that could easily make up a mile-long list.  As a matter of fact, in the mail today we received a brochure from HoleInOneInternational.com offering to insure almost any kind of prize we can dream up for any kind of event.  Why, for as little as $150.00 we can give away a trip to Hawaii to anyone making a hole in one at our next golf tournament . . . if we actually had golf tournaments.

The point is, there is insurance for almost every possession or event—catastrophic or otherwise—you can imagine. So why is it so many people don’t see the value in life insurance?  I realize sometimes money is the issue; there simply is not enough left over after providing the basic necessities of life to cover affairs after death.  But more often than not, it’s a matter of priorities (I need the latest model car or the latest technological device), denial and procrastination (I’m young and healthy—there’ll be plenty of time later to see about that; besides, I plan on living forever) or downright selfishness (I’ll be dead so it won’t be my problem—why should I spend my hard-earned money now so my family doesn’t have to worry about it later?).

Of all the things to protect in this life, it seems your family and their financial security after your death should be pretty high on the list. Yes, there will probably be some sort of funeral expense involved but there will also be a host of other bills that begin arriving in the mail not long after you depart.  Even if they’re just the routine costs of operating a household, your spouse is now down to one income instead of two or your children are worrying about how to keep things up and running until they can shut everything down.  Even if you have no family, someone, somewhere, will be required to pick up the pieces of your life when you’re no longer around.  And that clean up job usually requires some manner of funding.

By starting early and spending wisely, you can prepare for the inevitable without inflicting a great financial strain on your current lifestyle. It’s a plan you’ll be glad you crafted as the years fly by and your responsibilities increase.  After all, insurance of any kind is a bet.  In the case of life insurance, the company is betting you’ll live forever.  You’re betting you won’t.  Guess who’s going to win?

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