Skydiving and Life Insurance!!

On the way up this weekend I got the chance to talk to two pilots and three professional skydivers. One of them asked me what I do and when I mentioned that I am a life insurance agent, the questions started flying. Can I get it even though I skydive? Why do pilots have to pay so much more? How can I tell if I’m already covered with my current policy?

The bottom line was I told them that while both the pilots and skydivers were taking part in activities that a lot of insurance companies deem dangerous, not all insurance companies take the same view and many independent insurance agents have the experience to advise them in how to maximize their coverage in spite of the downsides in the underwriting.

After promising them all business cards we headed for the door. This was my first experience, a tandem jump with Nick from Mile-Hi-Skydiving in Boulder, CO. Just as I had suspected for all the years I had considered doing this, the first step was absolutely unbelievable. While I’m not sure I will make a habit of it, I would highly recommend everyone experience it at least once. Tell Nick I sent you. Contact info is at www.mile-hi-skydiving.com.

But back to life insurance. While there is no escaping the dreaded extra cost that comes with some hobbies, a good independent life insurance agent can guide you to the lowest possible life insurance quotes.

Then consider this. I don’t know of a private pilot that really believes their demise will occur while flying. After this weekend I can tell you that skydivers feel the same. So say you have a family and you really believe in the need to provide life insurance protection, but you don’t want to bust your budget. Carry two policies!

Carry one term insurance policy where you bite the bullet and pay the extra cost to cover your hobby or profession. Make it a large enough policy to have a meaningful impact on your family’s future, but not so large that it damages your ability to feed your family.

Carry another policy where you exclude aviation activities, thus keeping the cost of that policy very low.

Together they do everything you want. In the event of a death due to your hobby, your family is still left with a substantial amount of life insurance. Any other cause of death would result in the full amount of both policies being paid. Just like staggering your insurance (not putting all of your life insurance in one term length), layering your coverage around an occupation or avocation is an option worthy of study.

This post is somewhat dated. Life insurance underwriting is changing and evolving continually. For more updated information check out some of the key word links. If you have a specific question or topic you need information for do a search. If you don’t find the answers you need contact me and we’ll make sure you get the information that is important to you.