- Life insurance isn't the most fun thing to spend your money on it, and not something most people think about often.
- But for three women, all writers, there was one moment when they knew they had to get life insurance to protect their families.
- Candis McDow changed her mind about life insurance after she saw how her aunt was able to cover funeral expenses when her cousin was murdered.
- Africa Jackson struggled to cover her mother's funeral expenses and didn't want her son to go through the same experience.
- And Laura McCamy didn't want her wife to face difficulty paying bills after she witnessed her friend struggle for a year after losing a spouse.
- Policygenius can help you compare life insurance policies to find the right coverage for you, at the right price »
If you were to randomly ask someone what's on their mind, you'd probably get an answer like food, money, or clothes. But it probably wouldn't be life insurance. Nobody wants to think about their own demise.
That's why moments of realization are significant — they cause us to stop and reflect on the things we don't usually think about. And when that happens, it can move us to make decisions that are crucial.
We often use other people's lives as a mirror of our own, because as different as we may be, what's essential is the same. That's how these three women realized they needed life insurance.
Candis McDow reflects changed her mind about life insurance after her cousin was killed
Candis McDow's initial reaction to life insurance was negative when she first learned that her mother had taken out a policy on her and her siblings. It was a small amount, $60,000, but it was enough to cover funeral costs in the event of the sudden death of one of them.
McDow didn't love the idea. You can say the superstitious side of her kicked in and she perceived it as preparation for a premature death.
All that changed after her cousin was murdered, though. The event came as a shock to her because she and her cousin were the same age, late 20s. It's not something that anyone would expect or could be prepared for. But her aunt was able to cover the costs related to his death because she had taken out a life insurance policy months before. It was only then that McDow understood her own mother's reasoning for doing the same.
"Parents always seem to know what's best for us, during and after life,"wrote McDow in an essay for Insider.
Africa Jackson didn't want her son to go through what she did when her mother died
Like many of us, Africa Jackson wasn't taught about life insurance growing up. So, when she was given the opportunity to sign up through her employer, she didn't understand what she was buying into.
"Before my son was born, I didn't realize there was a difference between life insurance and health insurance,"Jackson wrote in an essay for Insider.
Though Jackson didn't know the key difference, what she did know was that losing a loved one was not only emotionally difficult, it was also financially difficult. When her mother died from cancer at the young age of 42, being the eldest sibling, she had to deal with costs related to her funeral, obituary, cremation, and headstone. The expenses left her family in distress and she had to postpone her life plans of owning a home.
Her employer explained how life insurance works and how it could help her. Once she understood, she signed up right away.
As a single mother, life insurance was the only immediate way to keep her house in the family and pay for her son's college. In the event she died suddenly, those goals would be covered by her insurance.
Laura McCamy witnessed a friend's struggle and knew she had to protect her wife
Laura McCamy witnessed her friend struggle to pay bills after the loss of a spouse to cancer. It made her worry about her own wife's ability to continue paying for their mortgage if McCamy died suddenly.
At the time, she had some coverage through her employer, but it wouldn't have been enough. McCamy decided on an additional $100,000 policy. It would enable her spouse to pay off some of the mortgage so that she could continue to afford the remainder of the mortgage payments on a single salary.
"It's hard to think about the possibility of dying, which is probably why I put off thinking about life insurance for so many years,"McCamy wrote in an essay for Insider.
Ads for life insurance can sometimes be annoying. They pop up when you least expect it, reminding you that someday you will ... well, you know how it goes. But setting the time aside to address the matter may mean a world of difference to the loved ones that get left behind.
Understanding what life insurance covers, the types of policies available, and the monthly costs are three simple steps to get you started.