I want you to think about that number very carefully and when you get the total I want you to write it in the blank for future reference. "I want my family to sue for $ -------------." Take a good look at that number and make sure it will be enough for them to get by. Will it cover educational expenses for your kids? Will it be enough to cover the mortgage payments, and living expenses. Are you totally satisfied that this amount will do the job of replacing your lost income for life?
Okay, now let's move on to the next part of this little exercise of seeing what your tomorrows are worth. In the next blank I want you to write in the total amount of life insurance that you own on your life. "I now own $ ------------ of life insurance on my life." Are you sure that this is the correct amount? Check your policies so that you have the correct total.
Now I have one simple question for you: Why the difference? Are you saying that your tomorrows are worth more to your family if you die in a head-on collision with someone else at fault? Are you saying that if it is your fault, your family doesn't need as much to live on? Your kids don't need a college education? They don't need a house to live in? Is that what you are saying?
I don't think that is what you are saying. I don't think you have really thought about it in these terms before. Aren't your tomorrows worth the same to your family no matter how you die, or whose fault it is? You will still be dead and not there to produce the income that your family needs to survive. It's a cold, hard fact of life that once you are dead you stay dead, no matter how you die. Your ability to run the office and adjust your patients comes to a screeching halt. So does the income.
Let's review those numbers again. This is the amount you wanted your family to sue for: $ ------------------.
This is how much insurance you own: $ ------------------.
This is the difference: $ ------------------.
My question to you is should there be a difference? If you aren't lucky enough to get killed in a wreck that is someone else's fault, how will your family make up this difference? It seems to me that it will cost them $1.00 to make up $1.00 that the program is short. That's tough when they have no income. It would be a lot easier for you to make up the difference while you are alive and working and have dollars to spend. By the way, if you use insurance to make up the difference it will only take less than five cents to purchase a $1.00. That's a bargain!
Have you ever sat down to figure out what your family would need if you weren't around to supply the income? I have a worksheet that can help you with that task. It's called the "HOW MUCH" worksheet and it's available if you will drop me a line and enclose a self- addressed, stamped envelope. It helps you figure out what your needs are and then looks at the assets that you have that can be used to fill those needs. It's yours for the asking. Why wait until you are staring at an oncoming care that is about to wipe you off the face of the earth to contemplate that question? Now you don't have to.
While we are on the subject, when was the last time you reviewed all of your insurance coverages? Maybe it's time that you did. I also have a worksheet for that. Thanks to my newsletter, I have worksheets for just about everything! It doesn't hurt to see if the beneficiaries are still correct. What about the premiums? Are they correct, or can they be reduced? Are the policies set up to benefit you and your family the most? What options do you have? Are the companies that you have coverage with the best? Do you have the "best" policies for the money? Do you need answers to these questions? Maybe now would be a good time to request those worksheets that I have been talking about. The price is right!
So again I will ask you the same question. Just how much are your tomorrows worth? It's time you sat down and tried to get an answer to that question, before tomorrow comes.
Your comments and inquiries may be directed to:
Stanley Greenfield, RHU
125 Croton Hill Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Thank you.
Click here for previous articles by Stanley Greenfield, RHU.