I am beginning to believe that our little mountain town here in one of the healthiest states according to several studies, is home to a bunch of closet cholesterol snarfers.

I know you don’t really snarf cholesterol, but I also know that if you do the typical male thing and ignore it, don’t get checkups and generally do the health la la walk through life, cholesterol has a way of being one of the first things to start sliding. Cholesterol is also one of those health issues that isn’t just an annoyance, but can actually reach out and bite you….to death.

I had talked just a few weeks ago about a local client who bragged about not having seen a doctor really ever in his adult life for anything preventive. He thought he might have seen one 9 or 10 years ago when a cut on his finger became infected. On his life insurance exam it turned out he had cholesterol by the bucket loads and HDL by the teaspoons, not a good combination.

He was all bluster about how cholesterol didn’t mean anything and insurance companies manufactured ways to raise peoples rates. His wife called a few days later and told me to issue the policy and that her husband was going to seeing a doctor about the cholesterol.

On the heels of that comes another local client with an almost identical medical history, none, and of course expecting that he would get preferred plus rates. After all, no doctor had ever told him he had any health problems. Of course he had never been close enough to a doctor as an adult to be able to find that out. His cholesterol on his exam was well above what was needed for preferred plus rates. In fact it was high enough to bump him two rate classes, but they cut him some slack and only bumped him one class.

He had a similar reaction. Cholesterol is overrated. Insurance companies rip people off. It doesn’t appear he will do the right thing. In this case, just to prove a point, he will go without life insurance.

Men are so stupid, or at least some of them. They will poo pah cholesterol, high blood pressure, weight, family history and I’ve even listened to them try to minimize heart attacks and bypass surgery. And if they can’t get the best rates, they will use that as an excuse not to carry life insurance to protect their family.

Bottom line. It all comes down to responsibility. If you have a wife or children or owe anyone money, your death is going to have a negative impact on someone. Getting real about your health and stepping up to the plate when it comes to life insurance are important steps toward owning that responsibility. Avoiding the whole thing is just stupid and not one ounce better than that.