What If I Get It Wrong?

We are a product of our parents and grandparents and I know my Dad was one of those guys who’s goal was to always get it right the first time. Having grown up in that shadow I know that one of my pet peeves is having to do something twice. I like to get it right the first time and be done. The father’s model of efficiency. But you know my Dad and I had a talk some years before he died and he gave me an exception to his rule in favor of life insurance.

True story that none of us want to go through two exams, two applications and two underwriting processes before we possess the end goal, the perfect life insurance policy for the needs of our family. My Dad had seen a lot of people die untimely deaths over his 86 years, deaths that came out of nowhere and defied any logical pattern or attempt to plan for it. Dad was a firefighter and toward the end of his career was a training officer who imparted the need, in saving lives and fighting fires, to get it right and get it right the first time. In Casper, WY’s fire department it became know as doing it Hinerman’s way, which in retirement led to his being honored with a street named just that, Hinerman’s Way.

While I rarely disagreed with my Dad, when it came to life insurance he could see where an exception to his rule of doing it once and doing it right or not doing it at all didn’t make sense. I talked to him about real clients who had blown it rather than throwing a patch on something and then buying a new tire at the first good opportunity. I told him about a man who was weighing options about how much life insurance to buy to supplement his upcoming retirement and how it drug out for months as he waited for the HR department to give him retirement income option figures. I explained to him on more than one occasion that he should just take out enough insurance and we could cancel all or part of it if, in the end, it seemed appropriate.

Now let me just interject some information here. I have been accused in the past of suggesting people have something in force rather than nothing because the sale would benefit me. First, I don’t need to do that. I do just fine without “selling” people into buying something unneeded. Second, unless that policy stays in force for a year I don’t make a dime so when I suggest a short term fix while looking for the long term answer I’m the only one that stands to lose. So, after six months or so of waiting on the gentleman’s HR folks to supply information I got a call from his wife one day asking if they could move ahead with the application. I told her we could and asked if there were any health changes. Her response was yes, that he had suffered a major stroke that had left him partially paralyzed and unable to communicate. Waited too long and I don’t say that in an “I told you so” way, but darn it, you can always cancel it if it turns out to be a bad idea, but you can’t always get it.

Bottom line. This is an important consideration when doing long range planning, whether for a personal retirement plan or when a partner or CEO needs business life insurance. It’s nice to have all the ducks in a row, but sometimes it’s more wise and prudent to pull the trigger and not put yourself or your company in an uninsurable position. If you need quotes or want to move ahead with life insurance and need someone who is all about getting it done and in force, call or email me directly. My name is Ed Hinerman. Let’s talk.