Posts filed under 'prayer'
If you only had a crystal ball, right? If you knew when you were going to die you could put off buying life insurance right up to the last moment, or if you knew you would outlive the need for life insurance you could just not buy at all.
Well, unless you are terminally ill or have some tried and true hooey wooey visionary way of knowing when the end might come, you are forced to deal with statistics and mortality assumptions. How many times have I heard, “The insurance company is betting I’m going to live and if I buy life insurance I’m betting that I’m going to die”?
Well, let’s be really up front and fair here. The life insurance company does believe you are going to live or they wouldn’t sell you the insurance. Duh!! But does that mean they don’t pay out on tens of thousands of claims every year that were the result of unexpected deaths? If you’re a male between age 25 and 64 the life insurance companies will be right most of the time, but 1 in 6 times they won’t be. That’s right. When you reach age 25, 1 in 6 of you won’t see age 65. If you’re female 1 in 9 of you won’t make it that far.
Let’s say for a minute that car insurance wasn’t mandated by law, completely voluntary. If you knew that the chances were randomly 1 in 6 that you would total your car I’m thinking most of you would carry comp and collision anyway.
Let’s look at it another way. That TV show about 6 degrees of separation is probably overkill in this discussion. I suspect that very few adults can say that they didn’t personally know someone between 25 and 64 who died. Most of us know someone who died prematurely and didn’t have life insurance. We just had a woman in her 40’s die in a car accident last week and a man in his 50’s have a heart attack two days ago in our small town of 6000 people. The man is still alive, but is in critical condition and without a transplant isn’t expected to make it.
A young man in his 20’s who is an ongoing subject of prayer in a men’s group I attend has inoperable cancer. It really goes on and on and I don’t make these points to get people to buy something that is going to break the bank, or even their budget. I make these points so maybe someone will understand (that doesn’t already) that we have a good chance of living to old age, but we aren’t immortal. There is prudent reason to consider having life insurance. For all of those who I have delivered death benefit checks to, saying there is prudent reason would be considered an understatement.
Bottom line. Just food for thought. If there is someone in your life who is depending on you, make sure they really can depend on you.
May 13th, 2009
There are days that stand out for me in life. My marriage. The day I gave my heart to Jesus. Each day that I have been able to deliver a death benefit check to a family of a client.
There are people who touch me and make a difference. Today I had an opportunity to share prayer with an 80 year old life insurance client of mine who’s business has been rocked by the recession. Imagine! 80 years old and still working everyday and living life the way you should, being honest and playing by the rules, and getting your tail kicked anyway. I can’t even begin to explain how this hurts my heart. All I could do was listen, pray and then put him in touch with a Dave Ramsey counselor. I feel blessed that I could be there for him when he needed someone to talk to.
There is a blessing that comes from no where, well of course from God, but seemingly out of the blue. There are moments or even something on internet that gives me hope.
Bottom line. I am humbled by life.
April 29th, 2009
It’s been a fascinating couple of years. I will sum it up by saying that we have helped a lot of people get life insurance who never thought they could. And what better way to celebrate the information we’ve shared and the victories we’ve had than with a shared meal, a key word salad.
Diabetes has been at the forefront of our life insurance efforts from the very start. We’ve made huge headway in finding aggressive underwriting for type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. I think our strong point has been in education. There are a lot more people out there today that know what their A1c is than when we started.
I’ve been very clear about where some of the problems lie in our industry. The AARP/New York Life collaboration, on what can only be described as a sick crime against older folks, continue to offer the worst term insurance and whole life insurance in the business. They are simply not the advocate they claim to be.
I’ve stepped on some toes along the way. Selectquote and Zander Life insurance have taken exception to some of my observations. Being a Dave Ramsey fan and I think, ultimately, a reasonable person, I did apologize to Zander. In spite of Selectquote’s berating commentary, I still stand by my assertion that they are biased in what companies they offer (otherwise they wouldn’t be so easy to beat) and I still believe that Suze Orman should go back to waitressing. As to their assertion that I only use Selectquote and Suze Orman for search engine optimization, well, I don’t, even though they think I do. If I didn’t think there was better service elsewhere and more honest advertising, I would never have mentioned Selectquote.
We’ve touched on scuba diving and Prudential being a leader in great rates for recreational divers. Pru also stomps the competition on prostate cancer, sleep apnea and mild anxiety issues. While providing direction on those issues we have also been able to provide direction for those involved in skydiving and foreign travel to places where kidnap and ransom insurance is more than just a casual thought.
We’ve stayed abreast of the economic meltdown and recession that have whacked us all and tried to help people understand how best to handle their life insurance needs in these tight times.
We’ve held lengthy discussions about obesity and the impact it can have on other health issues such as hypertension or high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, heart attack, stroke and cancer. We’ve discussed the risk and benefits of gastric bypass surgery as a means to avoid the life threatening side effects of being over weight.
Probably our biggest response has been from those suffering from depression and bipolar disorder. We reached a group of people that have truly been black balled in the insurance industry and we’ve been able to find some level headed underwriting and hit some major home runs for those who have the name tag but lead normal lives.
We have bared the facts behind the black eye of all black eyes in the insurance industry, the non guaranteed whole life, universal life and variable universal life policies and explained the alternatives in the permanent insurance market. There is nothing that provides greater value and peace of mind than a rock solid guarantee.
We’ve had frank discussions about business life insurance such as key man insurance and buy/sell life insurance. We did a whole series on women and life insurance. We’ve provided direction and information to private pilots that they aren’t getting anywhere else. We’ve talked about the guts of the policy when it comes to the two year suicide and incontestability clause and the accelerated death benefit and the beneficiary rights and the beneficiary issues for those who aren’t in a legal relationship such as a gay couple or an unmarried couple.
Bottom line. And the list goes on and on. We’ve tried to leave no stone unturned and no question unanswered in our quest to find life insurance for those whose mortality risk might be more challenging than average. As an independent agent it has been gratifying to have so many ways to help those who have been mishandled by the wrong agent or the wrong company. As we continue to reach out my prayer is that all who need help find it, and that more agents consider serving those who are harder to help.
March 18th, 2009
I’m always talking about others and their trials and tribulations in quest of the best life insurance rates they can find. For a change of pace I thought I would take you along on my own life insurance application adventure.
I have two term insurance policies that I would like to replace with longer terms, $500,000 with 10 years left and $500,000 with 6 years left. Last time I purchased life insurance I felt like I took a bit of a beating. The reason for the beating is that I have a minor health issue called Raynauds disease. Raynauds has been part of my life for nearly 25 years now and the symptoms, cold fingers and toes, have been well controlled with a very low dose of a medicine that is used for blood pressure control, a vasodilator called Prazosin. Hardly a mortality risk.
After my last application I dug through my records to see what it was that was kicking me down not one, but two, rate classes. In my study I found out that there is a huge difference between Raynauds disease and Raynauds phenomenon and the problem with underwriting my insurance seems to have at least partly been with the fact that my records incorrectly stated that I had Raynauds phenomenon. I am currently working with my doctor to have that corrected.
I shopped my proposed application with an email that went to a number of competitive companies. I sent it in the same format I use for clients, “PI (proposed insured) born 3/14/53, 5′10, 175, non smoker. Treated for Raynaud’s for 25 years with 5 mg Prazosin. No complications and CREST syndrome has been ruled out. Treated for gout 8 years with Alipurinol. Treatment for 15+ years for restless leg syndrome with 2mg Clonazapam before bedtime. Excellent labs. Annual checkups. Runs 3+ miles 5-7 times a week at 7000′. Looking for $1mm term.”
The most encouraging response came from Prudential, “we could consider any of the preferred categories as long as no complications from his health issues”. That tells me that with no complications, good labs and ekg I could potentially get their best rate class. Others ranged all the way from preferred to decline with several companies making two offers, a better offer if I had Raynauds disease instead of phenomenon.
Anyway, my application is signed and my exam set for Tuesday morning. At my age for this amount of coverage they will be checking height, weight and blood pressure, doing an ekg and borrowing blood and urine specimens. I will post all of that once it’s done. I have alerted my doctor to expect a request for records so hopefully that part of the process can be expedited.
Bottom line. We’ll see how things go when I follow my own advice. I’ve already had the talk with myself about the fact that I’m not getting any younger. If I don’t get preferred best rates I may have to make some adjustment, but for now we’ll just plan on the best, remember to fast before my exam and as always, add prayer to the effort.
February 15th, 2009
As life goes, I lost the most ardent follower of my ramblings on life insurance via this blog a few days ago. My Father passed away after a two year fight with bladder cancer. He always posted big readership numbers for me in Wyoming and I could always count on his honest feedback on what type of job I was doing in my goal to help people understand just a little more than they might otherwise about life insurance.
He was at times a brutally honest critic and always the first to tell me he thought I had done well. At 86 years old he dissected each post as if he was on the editorial payroll. He loved that I attempt to reach out to those whose medical conditions make it difficult for them to find an advocate in their hunt for affordable life insurance. His personal philosophy about sales is that you should never sell something you don’t believe in. He knew how passionate I am about what I do and appreciated how much effort we put into service.
We feel blessed that we had him as long as we did. When he was first diagnosed with cancer he was not given a very positive prognosis because of the high stage and grade. Right up to the last time we joined in prayer he knew in his heart that God had given him the extra time on earth to spread the word about what a powerful force our Lord is in our lives.
Bottom line. He is at peace now. No more pain. I miss my Dad but am pleased that he is with our Lord.
October 21st, 2008
As many of you have so graciously tolerated my use of my Mom’s breast cancer to discuss the life insurance take on the subject, you may remember that prior to Mom, there was Dad and his stage 4 bladder cancer.
About a year and a half ago Dad was given a few months to possibly a year to live when the oncologist were unable to find a chemotherapy drug that he could tolerate. He was told that they didn’t have anything else they could do. But we, family, friends and everyone we could engage did have one more arrow in the quiver, prayer.
We prayed for Dad’s healing in spite of the fact that the medical community had given him a rather grim forecast. Six months later he had a CT scan and there was less cancer then than he had when they discontinued treatment, and Dad felt great. He was 85 years old and walking a couple of miles a day and living life to the fullest.
We feel so blessed that he had that time of winning with God, beating the odds and enjoying a rather vigorous period of his life for a guy his age. He felt blessed enough to share the Lord with anyone who would listen. He shared his story with anyone, but particularly with people who were going through hard times physically, people who were old and facing cancer battles.
The cancer came back about a month ago and Dad is in hospice now. He’s not doing well. As you have all prayed for him and Mom in the past I would ask you to pray for them again. Cancer is a sinister thing but I’ve so many people make so much good come out of it. Please pray for God’s perfect healing for him. It seems they will be together before long and then the pain and discomfort will end. My Dad will be healed.
Bottom line. My Mom and Dad and I have prayed more together in these last two years than in our lives before that combined. God has brought us the peace, comfort and wisdom that we could not have found on our own. He has brought us extra time that doctors said wouldn’t happen. His grace and mercy have carried us.
October 16th, 2008
A few years ago I wrote about my Dad’s diagnosis with bladder cancer, a serious stage 4 cancer. In the words of the oncologist, an aggressive and dangerous cancer.
What I didn’t share at that time was the fact that his family doctor had treated symptoms as if he had a bladder infection for months. Round after round of antibiotics didn’t do anything and eventually, with some pushing and shoving from family members, he was referred to a urologist who diagnosed him with cancer. That was nearly two years ago and with radiation and chemo and more than a little prayer, the cancer was pushed back and he has had a very good last year and a half.
Recently Dad started having abdominal discomfort and stomach pain and his family doctor once again went after the symptoms with pain meds, acid reflux medicine and anti nausea medication. This went on for nearly a month with no change, in fact he was getting worse, losing weight and becoming weaker. Again the family stepped in and asked the oncologist to help us determine what was going on.
They scheduled a CT scan with the idea of seeing if there was something obvious or referring him to a gastroenterologist in the absence of that. What they found was that the cancer has started growing again and was actually causing all of the symptoms that the family doc was treating as if Dad had acid reflux.
We will find out today what courses of action are available, but one course of action has become clear. Dad and the family have lost all trust in this doctor who feels too important to refer patients to specialists, who thinks treating symptoms in the face of all logic pointing in different direction, and he won’t be in the picture any more.
Bottom line. This isn’t about life insurance and it isn’t about all doctors. What I hope to bring to the table is the thought that families and patients often know that treatment isn’t headed in the right direction, but don’t want to challenge what is going on. In retrospect I wish I had challenged more and more quickly. I wish we had dumped this doctor in the unemployment line two years ago. Once again my family is turning to God and we would covet your prayers in this situation.
September 26th, 2008
For other reasons than the flurry of life insurance related exchanges with the Zander Insurance Group last week, I was almost crushed by my own lack of humility and my own pridefulness.
When I left church on Sunday, as so often happens, I had heard the word of God and it seemed to be aimed straight at me. I had somehow allowed myself to let my pride take over ownership of God’s gifts and along the way I had shelved my once humble self.
After much prayer I want this morning to apologize to Mr Zander and to Dave Ramsey for boasting to whomever would listen that Zander was wrong in it’s approach to quoting life insurance while I was of course, right. I was arrogant and prideful and far from humble, all things that the God I serve demands of us.
I apologize for insinuating that Zander Insurance isn’t doing what they believe is right. I apologize for insinurating that they don’t do a good job for their clients and I apologize for my arrogance through the whole exchange. Our businesses are not right and wrong. They are simply different and I ask for forgiveness for my attitude. It won’t happen again.
Bottom line. God tests us and so often we fail. In the course of that failure we often hurt people we know and love and people who just happen to be in the way. My Lord Jesus has promised to accept repentance and admission of sin as a new start. I pray that from this day forward I will truly have the heart of a humble servant and not allow my own pride to take ownership of God’s blessings.
August 25th, 2008
Normally I would not “mix business with politics”, but for this post I am setting life insurance aside and using this forum to make my case for what I believe is the most important decision this country is facing concerning our future.
Let me preface this by saying that I have been voting for 35 years now. There haven’t been a lot of really great choices at the presidential level, but I’ve always voted my heart and my gut and done the best I could. I have never felt compelled to get involved in a campaign. I have never donated to a campaign (unless you count my portion of the matching federal campaign fund). I have just voted and lived with the consequences. That changed this year.
I have given a lot back to our country and the communities that I have lived in over the years, donating time and money for charity, good causes, disaster relief and so on. But I have never considered a step so bold as to answer Kennedy’s query in 1961, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country”. America has come a long way since then. Unfortunately it has come a long way in the wrong direction.
People don’t reach out and help their neighbors the way they used to. People don’t get involved with their community like they used to. Adults don’t give their time to help our youth become responsible young adults the way they used to. Our country has become self centered both from an individual and a global perspective. This is not the country that I grew up in as a child.
Barack Obama isn’t the answer to our country’s problems, but I believe he is the leader that can most quickly help us all to find the answers. Barack Obama can’t fix overnight what this country, politicians and citizens alike, have gone about messing up for the last 40 years, but I believe he is the leader who can help us all to get a grip and turn in the right direction. Barack Obama isn’t exciting because he is a good orator or because he will be the first black president, but I believe he is exciting because he is the first presidential candidate since Kennedy that has recognized that the power should come from the bottom up and it is the job of the president to encourage that energy and funnel it in positive directions.
Barack Obama, unlike so many choices of the past, is not the lesser of two evils as I’ve heard so often. The evil is the direction of the country and I believe that Barack Obama is the right person at the right time to help this nation confront that enemy and win.
Much will be made through this election about whether Barack Obama has the experience to be the president. Let’s be real. The only people that can submit a resume sufficient to qualify themselves to hired as the president, would be a former president (and most of them wouldn’t get hired again). There will be challenges just like and unlike any president has ever seen and the most we can hope for is that we have someone at the helm that is willing the face those challenges and use his God given good sense on our behalf, and I believe that Barack Obama is the right person at the right time.
Bottom line. I believe our nation is about to turn a historic corner. My prayer is that our nation will come together and embrace this opportunity and fight for this breath of fresh air that we are being offered. It is not by blind faith that I support Barack Obama, but by my true faith that God answers prayers.
June 19th, 2008
Hard to believe it’s been 15 months since my dad was diagnosed with a stage 3, grade 4 bladder cancer. When it breached the wall of his bladder and dispersed to other areas of his body, well, the medical prognosis just wasn’t that good.
When, at age 85, even though he is a physically active and strong guy, he wasn’t able to continue chemo treatments because of how compromising it was to his immune system, the prognosis, medically speaking was going down hill. What the doctors didn’t know was that my dad is a serious believer in God and had so many people praying for him, that they could have just not bothered with prognosisizing (I know that’s not a word).
Last time they checked, some of the cancer was gone and the rest of it seemed stalled in it’s tracks. My dad is feeling great and still getting out for daily walks and snow shoveling. He even hung out with the Easter bunny last week (picture above). Praise God!!!!
Bottom line. Don’t forget to include prayer to a Lord who loves you in your cancer therapy plan. The ultimate life insurance plan.
March 26th, 2008
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