The recent recession has led to a U.S. public that is more cautious about its spending habits. In many ways, this is a good thing – people are saving more and spending less. However, the unwanted knock-on effect of this uncertainty about finances is that ownership of life insurance has hit an all time low, according to NYSE: Unum (one of the world’s largest insurers).
This is unfortunate because as Debbie Cecil, director of life products at Unum says “Life Insurance is one of the building blocks of a solid financial plan.” But due to the economy “many people are just turning away from pursuing this type of coverage.”
U.S. Public has put Life Insurance on the Back Burner
Also, according to financial services consulting and research firm LIMRA the reason more than 40% of Americans have not bought a life insurance policy is that other priorities such as paying off debt or saving for retirement have become top of the list. This is why 11 million fewer American households are covered by life insurance than six years ago.
Life Insurance Awareness Month Promotes Importance of Life Coverage
Life Insurance Awareness Month is the invention of LIFE (Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education), a not-for-profit organization. The organization is joined each September by 100 of the world’s leading insurers and industry groups with the aim of raising awareness about the importance of life insurance. LIFE urges the public to think of the future in terms of how their family would cope financially if it were suddenly bereaved - how much of a struggle it would be dealing with the everyday costs of living, as well as education and paying the mortgage?
LIFE is joined by Actress Leslie Bibb
In order to get us thinking about the future LIFE has enlisted a celebrity help in the shape of Leslie Bibb, who has appeared in films such as Iron Man 2, Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Leslie was only three years old when her father, aged 39, died in an accident at work, leaving her mother with four young children to bring up on her own. Leslie believes that it was her father’s life insurance that enabled the family to survive. “My father died at a young age, but he loved his family enough to expect the unexpected” said Leslie.
The government is also keen to encourage people to include life coverage in their finances: Leslie’s story will be broadcast for the rest of the year via public service announcements on TV and Radio in a bid to remind all of us about the importance of taking stock of our life insurance needs.
photo credit: pshegubj