By Dave Coen
I am going to make this short and sweet so that we get the point across as this is one of the very first things I would suggest a couple consider when getting married.
What do you want for your spouse?
When we first fall in love and decide to spend the rest of our lives together, we feel like the world is at our feet and that our future is going to be fantastic.
If you ask people at their wedding what type of future they would like for their spouse, most would say “The very best that I could give them” This is a wonderful thing and I would like to encourage that.
Planning for the unseen
One of the wonderful things about getting married, is that we share our goals and dreams together and plan for things like buying a house, starting a family, places we want to go to – so many things on our bucket list of life.
In most cases, we would like the VERY best that we could give our spouse and future children. We feel like we are just starting out a brand new journey and nothing can stop us.
Of all the famous quotations Mike Tyson has spawned over the past 25 years, there is one that stands out. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”
Now that sounds funny to listen to, but life often has a way of doing that to us and could have tragic and devastating consequences. We don’t want it to go that way, and don’t really want to think about it, but life is never the linear wonderful positive experience that we think.
What happens when our new little family gets punched in the mouth? I would encourage consider that possibility and plan for it early on.
What lifestyle do I want my spouse to have?
If we answered the question about what type of life and future we would want to give to our spouse and kids as “The very best that I could give them”, then perhaps we should ask ourselves if we want that when we are alive, would want the very same for our family if we were not around anymore due to some unforeseen circumstance.
Most decent people would still want the very best for their spouse and kids. If we could not provide for them, then surely we would still want them to have the resources to do so.
The only way to make that happen is to ensure that we have life insurance coverage so that what we meant to have happen while we were still alive, could still happen after we are gone. Life insurance is the only thing that can ensure that what we want for our family will happen when we are gone.
I encourage ALL couples to have insurance coverage. One of the problems initially is that when we start out there is often not a lot of money to spare. For most couples earning a reasonable living, that should not be an excuse – it is a matter of prioritizing the most important things.
Term life insurance is REALLY inexpensive when we are young. For between $25 and $50 a month, most people under between 25 and 40 can get Term Insurance for at least $1,000,000 which will come to your family and not be taxed.
Later on when there is some extra money you can look at getting permanent life insurance if that is a good fit for your plan, which I highly recommend.
A few years ago, I recommended life insurance to a friend who had recently gotten married. He knew that he wanted to get life insurance but procrastinated. A few months later he died in a crash, and his widow found out a few weeks later that she was pregnant. This is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Don’t let good intentions get in the way of doing the right thing NOW.
About Dave
Dave Coen is a Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®) and Financial Advisor with SageView Advisory, and CEO of College Planning America. Along with his retirement financial industry experience, he is a College Planning Specialist. He works closely with individuals and families to provide comprehensive financial planning that addresses all elements of their financial picture. Learn more by connecting with Dave on LinkedIn. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss how we can help you with your family’s plan either in person, over the phone, or on Zoom
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