What people think about life insurance

Last year, I attended a Financial Literacy Workshop at the Philippine Supreme Court hosted by Mr. Rolly Robles, my RFP teacher, along with his team.  It was a great workshop because it made the Philippine Supreme Court staff learns how to save, spend as well as understand the importance of investing their money wisely.

One of the activities in the workshop caught my attention. It is about a person’s perception.

Check the the image (fig 1) below. What do you see? Make a wild guess.

Yes, I also see a frog. What comes into your mind when you think of a frog?

• It is ugly.
• It is slimy and gross.
• It eats mosquitoes and flies; so, it is in a way helpful to us.

Aside from the frog, what else do you see? At that time, I thought I saw a fried chicken. I guess hunger could be a factor why one can see a chicken with the image of the frog. :)

When you angle the image above, below (fig 2) is the image of what will appear. What do you see now?

                                  fig 2


Yes! It is a horse. What comes into your mind when you see a horse?

• It is elegant.
• It is powerful.
• It helps human in travel and labor work; so, it is helpful.

To perceive is “to become aware of through the senses.” The above sample is just a preview on how human minds perceive or conclude an understanding of any objects based on what is seen by their naked eyes.

The dual view also presents how some people perceive financial planning and insurance. Often times, we thought saving for retirement or buying an insurance policy is an added expense to the already piling expenses we have at home.

Like the Frog or Horse illusion above, there are a lot of misconceptions or negative thoughts attached to "insurance".

• Life insurance will bring misfortune to ones’ lives since it talks about death, disability and sickness.
• Life insurance is just another expense on the list.
• Life insurance is only good for the beneficiaries since money will be claimed upon death of the insured.

Unfortunately, many people don’t realize the importance of life insurance until it’s too late.

Concept of life insurance:

• To protect those who depend on your paycheck, such as your wife, children and quite possibly, your parents.
• To provide ongoing income to your dependents, until they are able to live comfortably without it in case you die prematurely.
• To provide emergency support (in some cases) for legal, medical and funeral costs, should family savings not be sufficient to cover them.

Imagine yourself gone tomorrow; what would the immediate impact on your family be – financially speaking? Could they afford the immediate / current expenses? Who would pay the home mortgage? Who would pay for the educational expenses?

At this stage in your life, if you still don’t have life insurance, maybe it’s time to consider getting one.