To provide and protect

“Who needs life insurance, anyway?”

I come across this attitude every now and again. Let me tell you how I dealt with it once:

A number of years ago, a woman called my office to ask if I could “convince” her husband to take out a policy. He made good money, and she was financially dependent on him. But he just couldn’t be bothered.

I told her I would give it a try.

I knew there are various reasons why people don’t get the coverage they know they should. It could be a fear of their own mortality. Maybe they were swmaped with money issues. Perhaps a bad experience on a prior application. I would find out when I got to their home.

Good folks. And he was a good guy. A man’s man. But he just didn’t want to budge. And he could see how upset his wife was. But there was really nothing I could do – he refused to dislose his reasons.

So I played a hunch. I rose from my seat in their living room, and walked towards the front door. Before I reached it, I turned to him and simply said, “You do what you want. I really don’t care. But if you die tomorrow, I won’t be supporting her. And you didn’t.”

It struck a chord. Playing to his manly pride worked. With some guys, you have to call them out if they don’t step up. He asked me to sit back down. We started Prequalification, and he got a policy.

Postscript: a few years later, he tragically died in a car accident. His wife received the money she needed. He had done his job as a provider and protector.