As a general rule, I like to keep my personal and business lives separate (good for my mental health). But sometimes that’s unavoidable. This is one of those times.

The vast majority of Americans know that life insurance is something most people need (93% in the LIFE Foundation’s last survey). Yet most Americans either have no life insurance at all or less than they need. Why? Because they don’t think “it” will happen to them. Sure, some people die before their time. But me? Nah. Won’t happen.

To help people understand how dangerous this kind of thinking can be, we at the LIFE Foundation tell lots of realLIFEstories. These are true stories of everyday people who DID die before their time, but who had the foresight to include life insurance in their financial plans.

We also share statistics. Do you know how many adult Americans die in the prime of their life each year? 550,000. Well, behind statistics like this one are real lives … lives that ended much sooner than they should have.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve experienced two cruel reminders of just how fleeting life can be. I lost two dear friends, both 44 years old. One died of cancer (her third bout), the other of a massive heart attack that struck ruthlessly, with no prior warning. Each was married. One left behind two young children, the other, a 10-year-old daughter.

People die before their time, all the time. And none of us knows who the unlucky ones will be. The job of the LIFE Foundation is not to scare people into buying life insurance. But it is our job to remind people of the facts. And sometimes the facts are cold, hard and all too real.

People need to acknowledge that the future is unknowable and account for that in their financial plans. My friends did, and that’s one silver lining their loves ones and friends can seek solace in at this very painful time. God bless.