Life Insurance Awareness Month

Your first question upon looking at this post may be, “What do diamond earrings have to do with life or life insurance?” Another could be, “What kind of testimonial could diamond earrings give for Life Insurance Awareness Month? My last post was centered in the hypothetical. The names were made up, but the situation was real. Today, I’m going to tell you this story about diamonds to allow you a chance to think about your own situation, and have a chance to help out another’s if you’re able.

How I Found It.

As many of you who follow me on social media may know, I do a lot to try to save money. I look for deals, look for ways to earn a little on the mobile market, and tend to get creative in the combination of those things. My wife is no different! While we normally search for things that we can use around the house, sometimes we dream a little–we find listings that aren’t exactly bargains, but would be definite purchases if we had unlimited money. In our searching for bargains, we found such a listing that hit a little close to home (in more ways than one).

The first way it hit close to home was in the literal sense. She lives about 20 minutes from us! The second way it hit close was emotional. The listing was of a pair of diamond earrings for $2000. Cathy loves diamonds and sometimes dreams of owning another pair of nice ones (I think I can remedy that here in the future). But, then I read the description. They were a gift from her husband from years ago. But the reason she was selling them was what drove the emotions in both my wife and myself.

The Story.

I won’t list her name, but I assure you that this is a recent situation. Instead of paraphrasing the rest of the post, I’ll just share what she typed on her listing:

Chance to GrieveGorgeous Diamond stud earrings with .72 total carat weight. Yellow gold. These were a gift to me from my husband several years ago, however, one of my earring holes will not stay open for me to enjoy wearing them so I must depart with them.
A month and a half ago, my family and I lost my sister unexpectedly. We and her had no resources to take care of her funeral costs. I did start a gofundme page but only raised $480 and the donations at the funeral home were about $600. The total for her funeral and the death certificates needed to take care of her final situations came to $3760, so that left $2680. I got a payday loan to pay it but if anyone knows about those types of loans they come at a huge price, (165% interest). So, by selling these earrings it sure would help me pay back this loan for my sister’s funeral costs that none of us expected to happen at the age of 44. So, you would not only be getting yourself a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings but you would be helping a family that has gone through a lot the past month and a half. I have a photo of the appraisal if you would like to see it. Thank you for taking the time to look at my posting. God Bless!

I can only imagine! I’ve lost someone close to me at a young age as well and ended up losing some things in the process. But this is very unfortunate. I know it happens a lot because people just don’t think life insurance is important. Now just imagine if her sister had just $5000 in coverage. This woman would not have to deal with all the finances and would have a chance to grieve. It may be too late for her sister, but you can make your move now.

Your Action.

Here’s the thing: funeral homes want their money up front most of the time. So you have to have something set aside for that. If you’re relying on some financial avenues to pay for that, you have to check to see whether or not those funds will be held up in probate. If they’re held up for that, that money would not be readily available to pay for funeral costs. With that being said, your first action should be to make sure that that is in place and reserved. Not taking this step could put your family in the same situation.

The second thing you should do is to secure life insurance for at least the amount needed for funeral costs. If you don’t qualify for life insurance, you can start a fixed annuity for that purpose. Of course, it would be prudent to provide for the income your family would lose in the case of your death. If you can’t afford that, think about how situations like this would affect your family. I’ll tell you how it affected hers.

I sent her a message telling her about my loss (I’ll post on that later this month) and asking her if I could share her story. She responded with this:

Thank you so very much, Raphael. I would appreciate it so much for you to use my story and link to my gofundme page. I haven’t been very successful in raising many funds as I said in my post that is why I have kept my gofundme page open. God willing, I will get that payday loan paid back. I am so sorry for your loss. I was on the phone with one of my sisters while the EMTs were working on our sister (in Ohio). Completely helpless were the feelings we had. I have my moments when I flash back to the day of her funeral and the days I had with her talking, laughing or arguing. I haven’t been able to fully grieve yet and I feel that is due to this financial burden so you doing this for me is so welcomed. Thank you so very much. I will get the link and re email or text you. Thanks again.

The third thing you could do is help her out. I don’t normally do this on the site, but I felt really compelled to do this for her. If you would like to help her through this financial burden, you can help here. Please tap to donate- http://m.gofund.me/z3kqh8c.

 

Your turn.

What situations do you have that can relate to hers? How has life insurance benefited you in the past? Please comment below!

 

https://simpleseniorhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/earings-1422616-639x852-1.jpghttps://simpleseniorhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/earings-1422616-639x852-1-150x150.jpgRaphaelLife InsuranceYour first question upon looking at this post may be, 'What do diamond earrings have to do with life or life insurance?' Another could be, 'What kind of testimonial could diamond earrings give for Life Insurance Awareness Month? My last post was centered in the hypothetical. The names were...Making Senior Health Simple