When Dad Has Cancer!!

Just finishing up today and getting ready to drive to where my parents live. My father has bladder cancer and is meeting with the oncologist tomorrow to discuss what steps might be best. At his age 84, he of course has long since quit worrying about life insurance and neither the cancer or the treatment will impact him in that manner. Just say a prayer for him if you are so inclined. At his age the treatment can be extremely rough, almost as rough as the disease itself.

As I was wrapping up I got a call from a son looking for life insurance for his 48 year old father who has liver cancer and is still undergoing treatment. I explained that at this juncture there really was no option other than guaranteed issue life insurance, a whole life policy that is “graded”. What that means is that the death benefit doesn’t become fully “vested”, for lack of a better term, for two years, three with some companies. So, if his father were to pass away during that period all that would be paid to the beneficiaries is a return of the premium paid, plus interest.

The son, of course, wanted something with an immediate benefit and said he would just continue looking. Logic would of course lean toward the fact that if an insurance company was going to offer insurance with an immediate death benefit, and that person was in the throes of a potentially fatal cancer, they would have to charge a premium almost equal to the death benefit. Logic did not dissuade the son. He said he would keep looking.

I say all of this for two reasons. Most importantly, get insurance while you are healthy and keep it in force. Even if it’s only a small amount and term insurance. No one knows what is coming, or when……and immortality is just not part of the human makeup. Don’t leave your children scrambling for a way to come up with enough money to bury you.

Second. Don’t overlook guaranteed issue insurance unless you have been told that the person who needs the insurance won’t make it two years. Most independent agents will have access to this type of coverage. There is no magic insurance out there for situations like these.

Time to hit the road.

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.