Have you ever seen what a million Rand looks like, in cold hard cash? Very few of us have, and that might just be why we get so resentful about paying for life insurance. Life insurance isn’t tangible! You can’t see, smell, or touch it, so at some stage, or another, you end up asking yourself, “Isn’t paying for this life insurance an absolute waste of my money?”

And it might well be…

Anything you buy for the wrong reasons is a waste of money, and a life insurance policy really isn’t any different. When you understand why you need life cover, shelling out your hard-earned cash for it, each and every month, will feel like a very fair trade.

On the flip side of that, when you don’t understand why you need life insurance – and it feels like some overbearing call centre agent has sold you something you didn’t really want in the first place – that feeling of dissatisfaction is going to brew and stew in your gut like a Saturday afternoon pootjie, until you end up picking up the phone, and cancelling the policy in full.

Here is one simple question you need to ask yourself. The answer to this will determine if you need life insurance or not: If I died today, would anyone, who is dear to me, suffer financially as a result of my departure?

So, would they?

If the answer is ‘yes’, then you need life insurance.

Ok, so you know you need it, but why do you still feel so resentful about paying for it? It’s because it’s all about ‘me’ nowadays…

We are all so focussed on ‘me’. What’s in it for me? I’m not prepared to get involved unless there is something in it for me. This doesn’t include me. What about me? I don’t benefit from having a life insurance policy.

Owning life insurance has nothing to do with you, and you are not going to benefit from having it in place, either.

Perhaps, if you don’t pass away, every 10 to 15 years you might get some of your premiums back, but it’s not an investment, it’s not an asset, and it’s not a retirement plan.

And that really irks us…

Owning a life insurance policy is about the protection of those dear to you. It’s a monetary sacrifice we all need to make to ensure that, if our number is up (before our time), our family aren’t plunged into a financial crisis.

If paying your life insurance premiums, each and every month, makes you angry, next time you are playing around with your kids in the garden, enjoying a braai and a beer with family and friends, consider what things would be like without you in the picture – who would be there to earn the money, that frames these wonderful moments in life?

Sobering thought, isn’t it?