When it comes to cool factor, David is the first to admit he’s sorely lacking – and he’s ok with that.
For as long as he can remember, he’s always been considered the sensible guy – even in the face of peer pressure. When his high school friends would toboggan down forbidden hills, he’d stand next to the warning sign and wait. While his university peers were out partying on Saturday nights, he could be found in his dorm room studying. Now, as an adult, David still gets teased for playing it safe.
Not too long ago, he was having a beer with a few of the guys from his hockey team and the subject of life insurance came up. The majority of his teammates were married with young kids so, not surprisingly, they all agreed that there was value to be had.
When David raised the subject of funeral insurance, they stared at him as if he had two heads.
“David, you’re 36. Slightly excessive, don’t you think?” laughed one. “How very grown-up of you,” teased another. Despite their responses, David went ahead and put final expense insurance in place, because being sensible is simply part of his DNA.
Eight months later, David was diagnosed with early-onset prostate cancer.
David remained positive throughout his cancer treatment, but he believes his struggle to beat the disease would have been far greater if he hadn’t put life insurance and funeral insurance in place. While he thankfully didn’t have to make a claim on either policy, knowing they existed gave him great peace of mind.
“I knew that whatever happened to me, my wife and daughter would be ok financially,” he says. “I also knew that Claire wouldn’t be burdened with my funeral if I didn’t make it. The thought of her dealing with that while looking after our three-year-old – that would have been too much to fathom. I honestly think that alleviating these concerns let me focus on getting well instead of worrying about what might happen to family, which would have depleted all my strength.” There’s nothing quite like cancer to remind us of our mortality.
David’s friends have since come back to him with questions about funeral insurance.
They’ve changed their opinions about the value of this safety net. Most of them, David realized, weren’t aware that life insurance doesn’t pay out right away, and that funeral insurance does. When David pointed this out, they were better able to understand how the latter could ‘fill in the gap’ so to speak, and make it easier for their spouse to cope both financially and emotionally should something happen.
They also assumed the cost would be excessive. Says David, “I have to admit, I was pretty surprised at how affordable the policy was when I enquired.” David has simple taste and created a simple end of life plan. This kept the value of his policy low. He’s also paying it off over 20 years, which keeps his monthly premiums down.
Funeral insurance may not be cool to talk about, but it’s important.
David appreciates the value of taking protective measures he always has – and now his friends get it, too.