John: a proud father of one college graduate who recently blessed him with his first grandson, two children still in college, a loving husband to a wife of 32 years, and a recent diagnosis of terminal cancer at the age of 63.  John’s retirement plans for his wife and himself was solely dependent on the sale of his business. The only problem was they had been marketing the sale of the business for almost a year and the probability of a sale taking place in the near future was becoming increasingly slim due to the difficult economic environment.

Unfortunately, John’s wife could not run the business he built and it slowly began to deteriorate over the next year as John was in and out of chemotherapy and radiology treatments. Along with this, John’s wife was faced with the knowledge that if John died before age 65, she would be taken care of by the $2 million term life insurance policy they put in place almost 20 years previously. Yet, if he lived one day beyond his 65^th birthday, she would not have this security.

Why do I bring this story to you? Simply because not all term life insurance is equal and the cheapest is not necessarily the best. Had John purchased a term life insurance policy with a convertible rider, they would not have this grief at hand. Policies that are convertible allows the owner the right to change the policy into a permanent type of insurance – even if the health of the insured would cause him to be rejected if he were to apply for a new policy. The age of the insured at the time of the conversion is the only factor that determines a change of the cost or premiums. Costly to convert? Possibly. Would it have been worth it to ensure the financial security of John’s wife? Absolutely!

In past articles, you have heard me compare insurance to a piece of Swiss cheese. It is not a matter of whether or not the policy has holes. It is a matter of how many holes it has and how big the holes are. The lack of a convertible feature is just one of them. Does your policy have a level premium or an increasing premium? Does it have a level death benefit… or a decreasing death benefit? No matter what stage you and your family are in life it is important to have a firm grasp on all the holes that could be associated with your policy.

No one likes paying for any type of insurance – until they need it – and often times, this is an area where people feel budget cuts can be made.  But the truth for most situations is that insurance is the foundation you need to protect your family, your assets and your future. Without the proper coverage, the risks you are taking could be tremendous.

I have worked with married couples for years, many just like John and his wife. The one thing that I have found is that twenty years later, when faced with John’s or similar circumstances, your wishes for your family’s security is still the same, if not stronger.