Real Life Stories: What Life Insurance Could Mean to You

Australia is one of the most exposed nations in the world, in terms of life insurance. We rank 16th in the developed world for life insurance density, perhaps as a result of our extensive social security system ... however, those left to rely on government benefits quickly find that it doesn't allow them to have anything like the life they imagined. The discussion about life insurance often gets a bit academic or financial ... and frankly, boring! So today we look at some real life examples of what life insurance could mean to your family if they survive past you. All of these stories are those of real people and families, sourced from various places.

A single parent, an unexpected illness, two young daughters
Divorce is not the only way that families become single-parent affairs. When a husband's early death left Mrs. Jackie Blanchard to care for her two young daughters, she knew that life insurance was a must. Several years after purchasing the policy, Mrs. Blanchard developed a lung infection which was eventually diagnosed as lung cancer.

Jackie couldn't work after the diagnosis, but because she'd chosen an option that allowed the premiums to be waived if she was physically unable to work, it remained in force. And when the diagnosis became terminal some time later, she was able to access a significant proportion of the benefit and start putting her own plans into place for her daughters. She purchased them a home to share and put money away for college ... and when she died at age 38, her daughters had all the security that she'd hoped for.

Struggling for cash before a car crash
Lauri Turnes, another single mother, was struggling for cash and looking for places where the household budget could be tightened ... and although she had her eye on her life insurance policy, a close friend talked her out of cancelling it. Lauri found a way to borrow money to make ends meet rather than cancelling the life insurance policy.

Around a year after taking out the loan, Lauri was driving home in the rain in a new car, slid on an icy road and died in a car accident. The life insurance policy gave her young daughter Jessi a lump sum payment to help her later in life, when her Mum would ordinarily have been helping put money towards a home deposit or a first car.

Growing income and debts met by growing life insurance
Peggy Claus started her own business in her 40s as a computer repairer, and with the family's increased income they decided to buy a bigger house. One of Peggy's friends was an insurance agent, who advised her that her life insurance coverage needed to increase as her debts and income did.

Around 2 years after taking his advice and increasing the benefit of her policy, Peggy was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. She had a three-year battle with the disease, which she eventually lost at age 48 ... but her husband and sons have been able to use the life insurance payout to stay in the house, repay the loans they took out while dependant on her income, and pay off some of the costs that accumulated while Peggy was ill.

Life insurance will never replace the people that are gone ... but it can make life a heck of a lot easier for those left behind!

life insurance