“Today, only 4 in 10 adult Americans own an individual life insurance policy,” Biggart says. “Among those who do have life insurance, the amount often is too small to safeguard the financial future of their loved ones.”
She says that because of this, family members often are forced to work extra jobs or longer hours, borrow money, or move into less desirable housing.
David F. Woods, CEO of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and president of the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, says he hopes Life Insurance Awareness Month will motivate Americans to seek out information on the benefits of life insurance.
The life insurance industry, he says, will hold a public awareness campaign that will encourage consumers to take stock of their life insurance needs. “Losing a family member is painful enough without it being compounded by financial difficulties,” Woods says.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, June 25, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.