Never Too Soon

By theadmin

For many young families just starting out, life insurance seems like an unnecessary expense. But for 32-year-old Kyle Grisham of Mabank, it’s as important as bringing home a paycheck or putting food on the table for his family.

“If something were to happen to me, I want them to have time to decide what they want to do,” says the married father of a two-year-old with another baby on the way. “I want them to be able to grow up in their house and be comfortable.”

Grisham’s insight and outlook come from personal experience; a few years ago, he was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by an intoxicated 19-year-old. Grisham required eight hours of facial reconstruction surgery.

“Before then, I didn’t think about life insurance at all,” he says. Today, as a father, husband, and owner of his own trucking company, he realizes its importance. Robert Dobbs, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance agency manager in Kaufman County, says it’s important that younger couples like the Grishams include life insurance in their overall planning.

“One of the advantages of buying it when you’re younger is that it’s a lot cheaper,” Dobbs explains. “And when you’re younger, you are in your peak earning years — so the loss of your income would be more devastating to your family. It’s more to secure income for your family.”

Dobbs says he spends a great deal of time trying to convince young couples that life insurance is important, and explains that it isn’t for them — it’s for the family they leave behind.

“Not many people die early, but when they do, it can be a real hardship on the surviving loved ones. Most types of insurance, you buy because you want to protect your possessions. Life insurance is something you buy because you care about somebody.”

Putting money into a whole life policy allows younger buyers to lock in a low rate and buy as much as they can early, and then set aside for the future. Dobbs said term insurance can be purchased for 10, 20, or 30 years, which gives buyers a set rate for that length of time.

“Then, as your financial situation changes, you can convert some of that term insurance to whole life. The whole idea is to prepare in case you do leave your family behind. It is a very good investment.”

And for Grisham, it is more than just an investment — it also spells peace of mind.

“After that accident, I really woke up,” he says. “There was nothing I could have done to keep that accident from happening, I just happened to be in that place at that time. It makes you realize that you don’t have a say in things like that. I’m a trucker, so I’m on the road 80 percent of the time. If something else happens to me, I need to know my family is taken care of.”