Phyllis Shallman – Common Objections to Buying Life Insurance

There are plenty of reasons for not buying life insurance. There just aren’t many good ones!

Every year, Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA) collects data on why people aren’t buying life insurance. Here are the three most popular objections to owning life insurance and a few points to consider if they’re stopping you from protecting your family.

“Life insurance isn’t that important”
This is the #1 reason Americans don’t buy life insurance. 67% say they have other financial priorities.(1) And there’s an extent to which that’s understandable! Your mortgage, car payments, and college tuition are incredibly important for the wellbeing of your family. They’re the building blocks of your lifestyle and empower your loved ones to pursue their dreams.

But life insurance helps ensure that your family can meet those financial obligations and maintain their lifestyle, no matter what. It replaces the income they would lose if something were to happen to you unexpectedly. Life insurance is important because you have other financial priorities!

“Life insurance is not affordable”
65% of Americans think they can’t afford life insurance.(2) But it’s incredibly common to overestimate the cost. LIMRA found in 2018 that 44% of Millennials thought life insurance was 5 times more expensive than it actually was.(3) To put things into perspective, a healthy, smoke-free 25 year old can expect to pay about $25 per month on life insurance.(4) That’s roughly the same as subscribing to several streaming services combined.(5) A young person can protect their financial future for the same monthly cost as binging their favorite shows and movies.

“Do I really need life insurance?”
The third most common reason Americans don’t have life insurance is because they don’t think they need it. There are many reasons for this. Maybe you’re thinking some of these yourself. “I’m young and healthy, I don’t have a family,” and the list goes on. A 23 year old without financial dependents like a spouse, aging parent, or child might legitimately have bigger financial fish to fry. But anyone with people in their lives that depend on their income to make ends meet and to pursue their dreams should have life insurance coverage. It’s not about how healthy you feel or how much you’ve saved up. It’s about protecting your family regardless of what life throws your way. Would you skip out on car insurance because you’re a good driver? Or ignore homeowners insurance because you have a fire extinguisher?

So the question now becomes, why don’t you have life insurance? Did any of these objections ring a bell? I would love to talk sometime about your concerns around securing the right protection for your family!