My "Trooper Moment"

Saturday evening, my wife and I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. No biggie, but we left the store in the dark around 8, and headed west to the intersection and a stop sign. About half a block from the four-way stop, a car appeared on the left, all black, except for those reflective markings designating it an Oklahoma Highway Patrol vehicle. It was at that point I reached for my seat belt and had my "Trooper Moment". Let me define what I mean. A "Trooper Moment" occurs when you're caught, plain and simple, but you weren't ready for it. In this case, he shows up out of nowhere. Immediately, you run through in your mind whether the tag and the car insurance is up to date, is everyone wearing a seat belt (I wasn't), or is there a tail light or brake light out. Is there anything I haven't done to be prepared for this moment. How many of your life events will be handled in "Trooper Moment" fashion? During that routine check-up, maybe you need surgery. The doctor calls back with test results that aren't always positive. Your spouse calls that someone ran into her in the parking lot. The IRS shows up at your door... The final one, of course, is the death of a spouse. How many times did you consider life insurance, but put it off? How many agents brought it up to you, but you always had coverage through your job? Hopefully, I won't have many more of these "Trooper Moments," but I know I will. It's inevitable. I just hope that you're prepared when you have to be. If not, give me a call, and lets talk about it.

Shhh. I've apparently got a secret!

There was a funeral today. One of the nicest, hardest-working people I know died from injuries sustained in an accident last week. He was a little older than me, a little shorter and a little heavier, and his family will miss him very much. I don't think he really knew much about me, or considered me one of his friends, but we got along when we saw each other and always had something to talk about. What bugs me the most is that I could've done so much for him and his family here at the end, but I never told him anything about what I do. Why is that? Ignacio was a well-respected local contractor who was always busy. He died from injuries sustained when he fell off of a ladder and struck his head. He never recovered, and died in ICU. Why did I never mention to him what I do? Why did I not be more assertive and ask him for an appointment to see if there was a way I could help him and his family. Obviously, three things I do come to mind: 1) Disability. Had he not struck his head and simply fell off a ladder, he probably would have been out of work for several weeks. Disability coverage could've bridged that income gap that he would've encountered. 2) Critical illness. Falling from a ladder almost always leads to a hospital visit. This valuable coverage would most certainly have helped alleviate some of those costs. 3) Life insurance. Today, especially, his family is reeling from the immediate expenses of his final care, and scrambling to figure out how they'll live without his income. Giving that family a check to continue their lives in the way they are accustomed would be one of the best things to happen to them all week. This illustrates my point. The things I can do with the products I offer are so fantastic, that there must be some reason I never bring them up in conversation. There has got to be a reason that my 1,000+ facebook friends, 550 LinkedIn contacts, and the 355 Twitter followers I have don't all know instinctively know what I do. It must be that I want to keep this to myself, and just assume that everyone I know knows what I do, and how the products that I offer work. From now on, I will not keep this passion of mine a secret. For Nacho, I am going to bring up my business to the people I know, meet, and work with. I think that's a great way to honor the man that I knew.

Hopefully, not all dreams come true!

Thursday night, I had the most intensely vivid dream I've had for a long time; I dreamed that I was dying. Now, in my business, I deal with my client's mortality on a daily basis. We discuss it, plan for it, and look beyond it for anything unforeseen. We know it's going to happen, and addressing how we handle it is priority number one. I guess what really burned this into my brain, is that I was going to die like, three days later. I didn't have some serious disease, and I wasn't having premonitions of a building collapsing on me. I was just going to pass away. It was then that the funeral became an event, and I was inviting people I met and the friends I had. I was doing all the planning and the last-minute arrangements. I remember one of my friends, upon hearing the invitation, was very non-committal; "Okay, I'll see if I can make it." See if you can make it? This is my funeral, my death, for crying out loud! How is it not the biggest event of the year? I have to laugh. Our lives, successes, and failures make us who we are. Shouldn't our death be as big a deal? I really doubt that dwelling on the event of my death makes it any easier to digest, and that planning now, instead of three days before, will make all the difference in the world.

the casualties of government programs

One of my clients called me today. He's been with me forever, and is a great friend as well. Now that I think about his predicament, I'm afraid there may be more calls like this in the future. With the new increase in payroll taxes, his paycheck has taken a $495 monthly hit. Now, he's not overly wealthy, but he has a good job, a nice home, and great kids. However, this cut in his income is forcing him to do away with the one thing that could protect his family in case something happens; his life insurance. What we're forced to do, at this point, is to reduce his coverage into a more manageable monthly premium. I can still provide some relief to the family should something happen, but at what expense? Do his daughters go to the college they have to, or the one they want to? Do they go to college at all? Does his wife have to work 10 more years past normal retirement, or can she look forward to her golden years? These all seem like vague, dreamy questions, but they're the questions we answered when he originally bought his policy. Now, the ball is in his court, but that is why I'm so grateful to play the role of the broker. My multiple companies allow me the flexibility to offer solutions to problems like this. I could not have had these options four years ago, and would have recommended to him to drop his coverage. Now, we both have options.

Cemetaries are full of procrastinators

Today is May 24th. The Sunday before Memorial Day, 2009. Its also just about seven years after I lost my mother in 2002. As I drove through the cemetary today in Kingfisher, I saw men, women, and even families walking through the stones, admiring the flowers, looking for names they knew. I saw one woman cleaning a headstone as some of the water around here tends to stain the headstones, as well as the brick on my house.

It occured to me that not everyone buried in the cemetary is someone that never woke up from their slumber after a long life into their 90's. The cemetary also has 23 year-olds who rolled a truck, or 37 year-olds who drove when they had too much to drink, or 50 year-olds who fought cancer until the very end. Cemetaries are also full of those who meant to buy life insurance but never got around to it.

Maybe you don't think you need it, or that your estate is big enough that your family doesn't need it, or that you'll "get around" to getting some. DO NOT put this off any longer! Take care of this need now, or risk not getting it done.

In the Memorial Days of the future, how do you want to be remembered? As the one who left your family in debt, or the one who provided for the kids to go to college, paid off the mortgage, and allowed your spouse years of income? This is up to you. Decide which one you want to be, and then call me.

Don't rely on work

At my client's house the other night, they started talking about the 1/2 million dollar policy he has at work and the 1M policy she has through her job and how all this money would take care of any debts they had and that they really didn't need any more life insurance. So then, I asked them the question: "How long do you plan to work there?" See, if either one of them either leaves their job or is laid off/fired/furloughed, that money is gone and all those plans change like yesterday.

Get your own policy outside of work. That way, you have some coverage should job loss occur, and you've also "ensured your insurability." It makes sense.

If you know your family needs it, why won't you have it?