Don’t be that Person! Look out for your loved ones…. Financially

God I hate to see this.  When one passes away from natural causes or an accident.   That’s bad enough in itself. Friends have to deal with the loss, but the family has to not only deal with loss of a loved one, but potentially the financial fall out depending on …. Preparation.

I’ve written about this sort of thing multiple times.  Incidents get me to thinking about it.   I’m in multiple organizations and if I was tasked to do one  briefing… one piece of advice … to all members it’d be… Get some damned LIFE INSURANCE!   Now what happens when this comes up is some folks say “I can’t afford it”.  Others will say “I have it at work”.   Others will say “it’s not a big deal”.    My thought is simply this.  If you don’t have it and you have kids and a spouse that depend on you…. GET IT.  If you have it at work, is it enough?   Is 50k or 250k enough to ensure your kids are fine until after HS Graduation?  Enough so that your wife isn’t flipping burgers or cleaning houses, trying to raise the kids?  Do  you have enough to at least get you in the ground if no one is relying on you financially? Is 500k / 1M the 'right number' to ensure the wife and kids are fine, for the rest of their lives?  Some might be surprised how 'cheap' this is, when being at a young age.  And, I'm not sure folks do the math correctly on just how much $ is actually needed by their families.

Back around February 2018 I wrote this post and it stirred up the pot on Social Media when I posted it there.   >>  Dead Biker + No Money = Jerk  <<    https://rickkkcir.blogspot.com/2018/02/dead-biker-no-money-jerk.html  Guess it was the heading that pissed a few off, but it got one's attention and that was the point.  Still, folks don’t listen.  Please read it.....

 On a side note, sort of related subject I posted in November of 2020 about GoFundMe fundraisers.  Seems like every time someone passes there is a knee jerk reaction to raise funds.  No one ever seems to ask “Is this necessary?”   “ Did so and so have insurance?”  “What are the funds needed to ensure the family makes it through this?”  Arbitrary numbers tend to be thrown out. Sometimes these aren’t even necessary or valid and that, is what I posted about.  >> GoFundMe <<.   https://rickkkcir.blogspot.com/2020/11/gofundme.html    I’ve seen it abused to the point where I’m sort of numb about it to be honest.   And, GoFundMe has gone a lil’ woke and charges too much IMHO, so I’m not a fan of them in the first place.

I was reading some things on Dave Ramsey that got me to thinking and I wrote this one: >>  Life insurance >> .  https://rickkkcir.blogspot.com/2022/12/life-insurance.html

 No matter, I’m here typing again.  It’s a broken record.   Sad that here I am posting yet again about a subject that is well… broken… in society.  We see the commercials.  GET TERM LIFE INSURANCE!  Call SELECTQUOTE for Cheap Rates!”     My question is … how do folks not have enough insurance, ensure  care for their family after they are gone?  I’m not talking about our grown kids.  Our extended family.  I'm talking about those that truly rely on our income.  Simple as that.  And if nothing else, ensure if your spouse or you pass away, you have enough to cover the cost of burial.   I’ve contributed to situations where the family did NOT have enough for their parent.  Crazy!

This stuff isn’t rocket science.  If you are in your 20s-40s … it’s ‘affordable’.  If you can’t afford it, then you’ve got bigger problems and need to address those (health and or finances).  If you can’t afford it, then you can’t afford not to (I can only imagine what the family will have to endure once the breadwinner is gone!).   If you’re in your 50s ++ , do you even have kids at home?  When we are that age, they are probably older and one may not need that much.  Me personally, I wanted to ensure my wife had $100k + a year coming in after I was gone.  Simple as that.  This isn’t a Lottery!   Just ensure they will be okay.  Maybe that number is $75k or $50k annually in your situation; we’re all different.   Few years ago, I dropped mine at age 60 knowing my wife would be okay financially AND … well.. the friggin’ rates went through the roof!  So … time to drop the insurance.  BUT, I still have 250k or so of insurance provided by my employer. 

Now …  here’s my final thought.   If I die tomorrow, my wife does NOT need a GoFundMe started. Does NOT need a fund setup.  Does NOT need a fundraiser.   Which begs the question. when folks start these up, do they know or understand the actual situation and needs?   We shouldn’t start a fund the minute someone passes out of grief.  It’s not always needed…..  

Note:  I saw something that 'triggered' this thought process, but I don't know any of the specifics, so this post is a 'general' post, not specific to any recent situation

https://life.selectquote.com/