Would you drive without a spare?
Question: Life insurance agents are hounding me with offers to get insured. I told them that I do not need insurance as I expect to have a long life with minimal history of major illnesses in our family. In fact, my relatives live up to 80. How do I get them off my back?
Answer: Consider this man who had been putting off buying a new set of tires to replace the 5-year old ones on his car. One day, he notices one particular tire deflating slowly but consistently. When he had the tire checked, no puncture was found. And so, he continues driving his car.
But the deflation persisted. When he had the tire checked again, the vulcanizing shop found that one of the inner plies of the tire separated, causing the air leak. The shop said the tire was beyond repair. To prove it, they forced air into the separated ply and indeed a bulge formed on the inside of the tire.
The man decides to just replace the damaged tire with his hardly utilized spare tire leaving no other spare left as he still put off buying a new set of tires.
But just when our man finally decides to buy the new tires, his inexpensive after-market bought tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) started to indicate a rapid loss of air pressure in the spare tire he just installed.
Our man was on Edsa and stalling on that road would surely get him towed. So, he prayed hard that he could make it to a side street where he could park on the curb. His prayers were granted and our man made it but not without his heart dropping every time he would see the air pressure fall every 30 seconds. The TPMS started beeping when the pressure fell from 29 to 25, then to 23, then to 21 and finally to 18 before he got to park.
After he parked he tried to reflate the tire by pumping air into it using his online shopping sourced portable air compressor. Alas, he could not reflate the tire because air was leaking out faster than he was pumping it in. That was when he noticed the sizeable screw that punctured his hardly used spare.
I know the first question that came to your mind, “Where did the man buy his inexpensive TPMS and portable air compressor?” That is not important right now.
At the risk of sounding clichéd, our body is the car that we use for life’s journey. And being mortals, our bodies simply wear down. We may do exercise, follow the right diet and don all sorts of technological marvels to monitor our health. But the truth of the matter is that, one day, our bodies will cease to function.
Your family will rely on you also for their own journey. And while you cannot have a spare life, you can have spare potential income in the form of life insurance coverage to support your family just in case you are called from this life early. That coverage will help defray costs that will crop up like your hospitalization immediately preceding your transfer to the next life, funeral expenses, debt liquidation and estate taxes. The same coverage will also help pay for your family’s living expenses, children’s future education, training for your spouse for better earning potential and many more.
In essence, you can treat life insurance as an asset, a gift that you will give to your loved ones on your departure date. You will feel happy buying that gift because you know your family will appreciate it.
Now you did say that you expect to live a long life. Life insurance companies agree with you on that. How else can they grow your small premiums to large benefit payouts if it were not for earning returns on those premiums over a very long period of time. That is why they are also rooting for your long life. But at the same time, life insurance companies are more than adequately capitalized with risks managed through reinsurance to be able to pay you just in case you are called from this life early.
Oh and here is a secret. The best way to get life insurance agents off your back is to be able to tell them that you are truly already adequately insured. INQ
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Efren Ll. Cruz is a Registered Financial Planner and Director of RFP® Philippines, seasoned investment adviser, bestselling author of personal finance books in the Philippines and a YAMAN Coach™. To consult with a YAMAN Coach™, email [email protected]. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 97th RFP Program this August 2022. To inquire, e-mail [email protected] or text at 09176248110)
