Understanding the Living Benefits of Life Insurance

So, you want to understand the concept of life insurance and the living benefits it affords?

I applaud your interest, as your decision to read this article will contribute to one of the best decisions you will make in your life. 

Whether you already have sufficient life insurance coverage, just a little or none at all, you're in good hands...provided you will apply the knowledge being shared with you.

For starters, let us go to the basics. Life insurance is a contractual agreement made between the insured person (s) and the insurer who will be responsible for paying out the sum bought to the beneficiaries in the case of the insured's death. But before you start swaying your mind from that previous sentence let us assess the importance of this.

Some persons are of the view that life insurance is death business, primarily because of this one factor. While this is not a bad thing, I will help you understand the living benefits as well, just so you will have a balanced outlook. 

Back to the infamous view of life insurance being death business. While it is uncomfortable and in some cases insensitive to talk about death, more and more families are starting to get it right. 

Imagine a family where there are parents and children. The parents owe a substantive amount of money in loans. They have little to no savings for emergencies nor for the education of their children. Imagine now, that one of the parents die. Yes, these things happen and the sooner you begin to think maturely about these scenarios, the sooner you will be able to put mature decisions in place as well. 

Right, so one of the parents die. This now means that there is a strain on the other in terms of final expenses i.e. funeral costs. This alone sometimes send families into more debt and a more distraught frame of mind. 

If the deceased person has loans, the family will be targeted for the clearing of such loans which may include taking possession of assets in the home. What if they had a mortgage together? One now has the burden of paying solely and risk having the home foreclosed. The children of the union may now have to take loans for education or forego higher education all together. Or maybe, the other parent can double up to save that from happening.

All in in, a stressful situation to be in. One that could have been alleviated if the deceased had life insurance. Life insurance provides peace of mind. 

One knows, that should their loved ones outlive them, they can be financially secured, especially if it is the main breadwinner that passes. Some of the financial stresses will be alleviated, even though the mourning for a loved one continues.

Who wouldn't want this for their loved ones? I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want my children nor parents worrying about paying off loans I owe, spending their last dollar on funeral expenses, risk not having a home, their medication or education while still dealing with the financial woes a top of their emotional worry.

When you you love your loved ones, paying your life insurance premiums monthly, semi-annually or annually shouldn't seem like death to you. It's an expression of commitment and love.

Enough about the sad love story. Let us assess the living benefits of life insurance. You heard right. Your life insurance policy has a plethora of benefits you can access while you are still having coffee and visiting friends.

First, answer this question, do you want to have financial freedom?

If you don't already, then having your life insurance is a start! Consider a pyramid. At the base, life insurance is your foundation while the top signifies the achievement of financial freedom. To get to the top, there are a few steps up, however, your base/foundation/insurance must be strong to avoid you toppling over.

 In a situation where you do not have insurance (life, health, accident, dismemberment etc.) you will be tempted to use your savings, money accrued to pay off debt, your investments etc. to take care of what your insurance would have taken care of. That leads you to start all over again on your road to financial freedom and you will start over many times more, if you do not get it right. Just as how savings should be separate, so too should your emergency fund, debt management portfolio, investments and your insurances. 

The next time you imagine being financially free, remember that your life insurance as well health insurance too, help to make up that foundation.

Since you may not yet be liquid enough to purchase your dream home cash or build it from scratch...cash, you may consider taking out a loan/mortgage to facilitate your goal of home ownership. Ambitious goal you have there and achievable too. The avenue, can be simplified by having your life insurance. How? You may ask. 

Let's just put it this way, banks are smart and they are not your friends. Facilitating your loan/mortgage means they have to put something in place, just in case down the road you are not able to pay -whatever tough times you may be facing. 

That "thing" they put in place for you is mortgage insurance. It's not for you really, you pay for it but, it is for the bank. Get it? They are protecting themselves against loss just in case you are not able to pay for your home - for whatever reason. Now, if you had life insurance - equal to or greater than the cost of the home you wouldn't have to spend thousands more on mortgage insurance. 

All you would have to do, is use your life insurance policy as collateral for the mortgage. There is a crucial point to note here. Life insurance policies gather cash value each year after a specified period of time. For you to use your life insurance policy as collateral for the mortgage, the cash value at the time of the mortgage would need to be of equal or greater value as the home, and this is the same principle for other loans.

You see, a lot of planning goes into decision making and that is why it is pertinent to seek advise from qualified persons in the field you are planning on making decisions about. I could go writing for days about choosing, effecting, utilizing your life insurance policy, but that is for another time. 

I am sticking to telling you about the living benefits of having your policy. Should you need to consult a trained and licensed insurance representative, you can visit her here: ensure.you.insure . She will be able to conduct an evaluation to determine which, and how much coverage is best for you. A tip she is sure to tell you though, is that the sooner you purchase life insurance, the it will be.

Similarly to homeownership, life insurance caters to business opportunities. Many entrepreneurs have lost a business deal because they did not have enough ready cash nor adequate collateral.

 How much does your business need? Will you be expanding? All this takes can be handled well with planning, taking the right risks and most comforting - life insurance. The cash value on your policy can be well needed help to secure your business opportunities.  

Another living benefit includes saving. While many prefer to save with the bank, some persons save with the bank and also reap savings from their life insurance! Nothing wrong with more savings. More savings, more money for you. There are policies designed perfectly to accommodate this, ensure.you.insure shares the details.

 The good highlight of savings through a life insurance policy is that it offers you more than just the savings. There is protection in the event of loss, the policy provides income tax saving which keeps pace with inflation and acts as a buffer for those tempting moments when you may want to withdraw from your savings. Now this, is a big deal.

Lady Justice, these benefits are well worth sharing as many persons would not have otherwise known that their life insurance policies can be so impactful. Not only providing peace of mind, but adding to your net worth as the cash value continues to accumulate and remains beneficial over the span of one's life.

What are you waiting for? Consult with ensure.you.insure today to carefully assess your long and short term needs to find the right policy for you. 

 

"Carry-Overs" | How well are you managing them?

 

What keeps you going?

For many, it is a personal drive to advance to the attainment of goals and achievements that they desire, outside of any stimulus from the circumstances they were born into. They somehow have a clean slate on which they identify the things that they will go after. While this is not a perfect slate, and may have underlying challenges, it is one hoped for by many. Be it for themselves, children, or as a lasting legacy for generations to come.

For others, the slate is not blank at all. Instead, it has a lot of "carry-overs." These can be different for a lot of persons and they can be similar too. A lot of persons born with these "carry-overs" may not have achieved their attainment. Some persons have achieved some and are still striving, while others - may just be getting started.

What exactly are these "carry-overs?" 

You may very well feel an inkling by now as to what they are and may have sub-consciously identified those unique to you. You no longer need to read between the lines, as some are expressed below.

"Carry-overs" as I call them, are acts and omissions (things to do or not to do) that were or were not done by our immediate forefathers/mothers, parents, siblings, relatives and guardians too, resulting in a lesser quality of life and opportunities that would make our lives, as continuing family members better.

Like I rightly alluded, "carry-overs" may be different or similar to individuals, families and communities all across the globe. Feelings associated with "carry-overs" can be negative and positive depending on the expectations attached.

In order to provide the most relatable analogies of "carry-overs", I will refer to Jamaica. Examined here, are gender, education, residency and opportunities.

Gender

Many Jamaican women are head of their households (whether by choice or circumstances) and work hard to support their families alone as they are single mothers, some of which, had teenaged pregnancies. Within the context of this blog, these outcomes are not being ridiculed nor scoffed at. It is with these identifiers, that I can now introduce the idea that these mothers may not want the same for their girls. Likewise, their girls may strive to not "carry-over" something like teenage pregnancy. For girls who do not become teenaged mothers, this may be a major accomplishment, especially if their mother was a teenaged mother. This omission to "carry-over" would have broken that pattern and that burden would disappear … resurfacing again - perhaps when another girl becomes a teenager.

Similarly, there are boys and men who would have experienced their fathers being unconcerned with their upbringing. Their fathers may have been abusive to members of the household, led unhealthy or unlawful lifestyles or were emotionally unavailable. Being witnesses this, they would strive to not "carry-over" those practices in their lives and that of the families they go on to create. This here, is another example of the omissions type of "carry-over." Should the boy grow to adopt these characteristics, the pattern would be perpetuated and the burden to omit, transferred to another boy in the family, growing into manhood.

"Carry-overs" like those, relating to gender are usually widespread in our society and sometimes become more of a societal issue than a family issue.

Education

As it relates to education, particularly secondary and tertiary, a lot of persons are first in their families or one of few in their families to pursue and also attain the experiences and certification these levels comprise of. In some families, the older adults did not have the opportunities to attend school. We hear stories, where our parents, grand parents or even great grand parents would have had to seek trades i.e. carpentry or dressmaking at an early age, because education was not available or affordable for them. Some adults today, had the educational opportunities but may have somehow, not utilize them properly. The reasons abound and vary significantly.

The crux of the matter however, is that persons born into this family, would have been striving then, to clear that pattern of illiteracy or the unestablished pattern of higher education. This "carry-over" is usually seen as the way maker for countless possibilities that can transform the lives of individuals and families.  

Many households place education on a pedestal and some parents sacrifice immensely to ensure their children are educated. 

Residency

Comment to let me know if it is your observation as well, that all across Jamaica there are plenty of unfinished houses, and for many houses that are complete, it took years and possibly more than three generations to have done so. Many persons "carry-over" the desire to either complete their parent's/parents' home or to be homeowners as a result of circumstances they were born in. Some persons may have never owned nor had a home. As a result, this acts as a stimulus towards homeownership. 

Similarly, location comes into play. A lot of persons today, already have on their slates, the goal to reside elsewhere from their childhood homes. This may be due to unpleasant experiences or associations with a particular place, resulting in the desire to seek out a better plot of land for one's place of abode. Sometimes this includes living abroad.

Opportunities

It is no surprise that we all seek out different opportunities. Oftentimes for very similar end results. For instance, earning more money, advancing on the social ladder, learning new skills, personal and professional growth and even charitable causes.

Regardless of the reasons for which persons seek out opportunities, "carry-overs" sometimes come in to play. These "carry-overs" can be linked to the ones outlined above. This is no coincidence. For persons to achieve their goals and ambitions in life, they constantly seek and take on opportunities. 

Sometimes, it is a missed opportunity that costs someone the burden of having "carry-overs." On the contrary, an opportunity grasped could well mean that goals are actualized or have become closer within reach.

How does one strike a balance between charting their own course un-regrettably and living to mend the breaks "carried-over" in their life? Do you really get to strike a balance?

My tips to Lady Justice are:

• First, believe in yourself. This belief in self will be an indomitable spirit needed to go after the goals you set.

• Clear your thoughts of what is expected of you versus what you expect of yourself. Are you expected to be the first engineer in your family but your passion is screaming pharmacist? Too often, the "carry-overs" faced, are the personal goals and wishes that others had for themselves or for the reputation of the family. These goals are planted within us, and we begin to believe them as our own passions.

• For the "carry-overs" that you absolutely feel the desire to achieve or omit, outline a plan. Step by step, day in - day out. Devising a workable and manageable plan will help you to feel less burdened in achieving them.

• Talk to the people who you think have caused or added to your "carry-over," this talk may clear up misunderstandings. You may well believe that a sibling or parent who have omitted to do something in their lives, thinks you should act on it. They may very well tell you that it is not an expectation of you or that you will be supported, if you too omit on such a task. Similarly, if the expectation does exists, you can speak up about whether you are burdened or excited by it. Sometimes they are willing to help you - if only they know of the burdens you face, or help you may need.

• Don't forget to live your life! Don't go merely existing and hoping to live through someone else's opportunities or existence. Celebrate your life and lead a fulfilling one. That way, you will know what it feels like to allow others, (be it your own children or others in general) to live their very own life as well!

Steps to Eliminate The Body Aches Caused by Your Phone

 Phones are everywhere and so is pain!

Whether you have the latest versions of the most trending phones, or pulling out your old phone stirs conversations of "back-then", you are at risk of suffering tremendous body aches by virtue of owning one.
You may not have realized it, but many of the physical discomforts you have, can be alleviated and can even disappear if you adopt better phone habits and consciously follow through with them. Here are the steps to eliminate the body aches caused by your phone.

EYES

Do your eyes get heavy, watery and painful when you use your phone? For some, prolonged phone use can cause discomfort in the eyes and they may not even be aware. If you use your phone for long hours for work or leisure, be sure to adjust the screen lighting to suit the environment you are in and the time of day. If your space is poorly lit, you will want to turn up the brightness moderately to avoid straining to see what is on your screen. Similarly, if your space is well lit, even by natural lighting, then you wouldn't need the extra brightness from your phone. Check regularly to ensure you do not forget to adjust and re-adjust in situations like these.

To add, try as much as possible to minimize your "screen time" right before bedtime. Staring at the glare from your phone minutes before bed can contribute to wakefulness at nights and sored eyes. Ensure too, that the font styles and fonts you use are suitable for you to read and understand clearly without strain. Who wants stylish fonts that damages the eyes?

NECK & BACK

Believe it or not, the necks and backs of millions of people are straining this minute as they use their phones, and you may be included too! Sit and stand upright. Avoid all slouching postures. Raise your neck to look to the ceiling or sky, gently lower it to a halt, where you are seemingly looking outward, to the center of where you are sitting or standing. Raise the hand holding your phone outward to your chest. Hold it slightly lower than your eyes. Keep your neck and back supported with an upright posture. And if you are laying, monitor the unusual curves in your neck and back just the same. 

Have you ever seen someone flex their neck after finally raising it from their phones? Imagine doing that every time you use your phone. The flexing doesn't solve the problem. Keep "Text Neck" and back pain caused from slouching at bay, by practicing good posture.

CHEST

You are not off the hook just yet. So don't start celebrating that you have no chest pain. What about that time you were laying on your back, hand (s) mid-air with phone, when suddenly it fell onto your chest?! Did you love that feeling? Poor chest. Maybe you will want to get a pop socket. It is a phone accessory that allows for a good grip of one's phone from the back to prevent it from falling. You can choose from a variety of colours and styles and can customize it as well.

HANDS

Don't believe me? Ask your friends what letter of the alphabet you look like when you are stretching to get that perfect selfie. The hands are stretched or placed at unusual lengths and angles for the great photo opportunity. In that moment, you will not mind or may not even be mindful of the predicament. A selfie stick may help or simply asking someone to take pictures for you. As for stretching your hands like an antenna for phone signal - that may become necessity sometimes. That doesn't mean that your hands are not feeling the pinch though.

STOMACH

Yes. Food is included. How often do you ignore the pangs of hunger or thirst just because you are consumed by the features or uses of your phone. Is is necessary?  Nope. This is a reminder as well, to check in with children to monitor their screen time, ensuring they eat actual foods and not the digitized foods in games. The next time you find yourself scrolling through the food emojis with a rousing appetite or trading food time for phone time- go get something to eat and or drink.

Lady Justice, bodily aches may not always appear when we expect them to. They may appear long after the initial cause when you have forgotten what may be causing them. It is good to be consciously aware of the things that are contributing to the aches we feel now or may feel later. Remember, it is you who are in control of your phone. When it falls, that's enough pain for you. Do not add more pain by compromising the body parts identified.