Excuses #1: "Go Fund Me" is better than Life Insurance

I was on my LinkedIn feed and saw some blog ideas, and this one was a listed "misconception" as to why people don't buy life insurance.

Well, it's not a misconception. It's an excuse.

The purchase of life insurance is a character purchase. It's done because you love someone or you owe someone.

If there are others who depend on your income... and you believe that "Go Fund Me" is better... then I would walk away from that person, because that person just demonstrated their character to me... and that isn't someone I want as a policyholder of mine. Although I might ask "Is that how you REALLY feel?" to make sure I'm not misreading a joke to mask other feelings of insecurity or something.

Now here's the story. About 12 years ago, I was helping a man with a small 401(k) rollover from his employer. When I say small, it was under $1,000. If I were to earn a commission, it would be less than $10... but when you work for a credit union, you help everybody. And based on his situation, I highly doubted that we were going to actually invest it - but he'd end up cashing it out.

Turns out that I was right. But what I felt bad about, was that I didn't have a life insurance product of some kind to get him some protection. I simply didn't have anything to offer - not that he wasn't insurable, but I didn't have anything.

Within the next month, a co-worker showed me this headline and article:

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VC Star: Stabbing victim remembered; fund set up to help family

By Adam Foxman

Relatives and friends gathered Tuesday at Conrad-Carroll Mortuary in Oxnard to remember Barry Franklin, who was stabbed to death in his Oxnard home this month.

Franklin, 48, was known as a caring, hard-working man, and many of the approximately 25 people who attended his memorial service were still in shock two weeks after the slaying, said Geoff Cleland, a friend and former employer who attended.

Franklin was the sole financial supporter of several family members, including one of his sisters and her daughter, and he often worked multiple jobs, said Cleland, who employed Franklin as a driver for Blackhawk Limousine Service in the months before he was killed.

"He always tried to do for other people before himself," said Cleland, who considered Franklin to be a close friend.

Franklin's generous, outgoing nature led Cleland to recruit him from the ranks of another limousine service about six months ago, and it won him the affection of many of the people he drove. "The clients loved him to pieces," Cleland said.

After Franklin's killing appeared in the news, dozens of clients who had ridden with him called Cleland to ask if there was anything they could do, he said.

Cleland responded to the flood of offers by setting up a fund at Wells Fargo Bank in Ventura to help Franklin's family defray the cost of the memorial service and burial.

As Franklin's family prepared to bury him, Oxnard police are asking the public for help in finding his killer.

Police believe Franklin was stabbed to death by someone who entered his home through an open garage.

"We believe the motive behind the homicide was an interrupted burglary," Oxnard police spokesman David Keith said Tuesday in an e-mail.

Investigators believe a burglar entered the garage in the 2100 block of Curran Street about 2 a.m. Nov. 13 and repeatedly stabbed Franklin in the chest during a confrontation, Keith said. Investigators think the attack took place in the garage.

Franklin died several hours later at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

Oxnard is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Franklin's killer.

Anyone with information should call Sgt. Jim Seitz at 385-7763 or a violent crimes hotline at 982-7070.

People interested in donating to the family can mail checks to the Barry Franklin Memorial Account, Wells Fargo Bank, 270 S. Mills Road, Ventura, CA 93003, Attention: Esmeralda Halcon.

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Let me tell you what little I remember of Barry Franklin: He was a caring and ambitious man. No, he didn't have his life "all put together", but he loved what he did. And if I HAD an inexpensive life insurance policy... I would've sold it to him for $20-$40/month and they wouldn't have HAD to set up this FUND. It would've been a NO-BRAINER for him to purchase... if only I had something to help him with.

So, for any person who doesn't have the CHARACTER to believe that you have a RESPONSIBILITY to purchase your own protection for your family... I believe you should explain it to your family and find out what THEY have to say about your attitude.

Don't leave it up to your family to figure out how they'll pay for funeral costs and how they'll get along without your income. If you can get life insurance, you should get life insurance.