With 1 in 5 adults using activity trackers, we were interested to see who was up for getting rewarded for their good fitness behavior. This infographic breaks down who would share their activity tracker information for better life insurance rates and other benefits.
‘‘Driving race cars for a living means going 200 miles an hour around a track with concrete walls. I know the risks, which is why I’ve had life insurance since the start of my career. But that’s not the only reason I own it,” says Danica Patrick.
Watch this video to learn more. If you’d like to explore whether you need life insurance, start here.
Each year Life Happens, in concert with LIMRA, take the pulse of Americans’ attitudes toward their finances and insurance in our Insurance Barometer Study. This year we took a closer look at Millennials and found that their concerns (and interest in solutions) about long-term care very interesting, even though for most it’s a long, long way off. Here’s more:
Here she opens up about life and life insurance.
You’re a consummate—and fierce—racing professional, but everyone has to start somewhere. Do you remember your first race?
Danica Patrick: It’s actually quite unforgettable. My sister and I started to race Go Karts when I was 10 and she was 8. The first time we took them out, it was in the big parking lot behind my parents’ business. We set up cans in a circle so we could do laps. But once out there my brake pedal fell to the floor, and I had no idea what to do. Instead of turning or spinning out, I just went straight, and at the last minute veered to miss a construction trailer and crashed into a concrete wall. I twisted the Go Kart, flew back, got bruised legs—the whole deal. It didn’t scare me away, but by all means my first racing experience did not go well.
When did you first get life insurance—or at least consider it?
Danica Patrick: It was an easy decision for me to get life insurance at a young age. I participate in a risky sport where I drive 200 miles an hour with concrete walls around me. Plus, I’ve been fortunate to have a successful career from the beginning, and I want my family to be looked after if something were to happen to me, especially since my parents sacrificed so much for me to get where I am.
But going a bit deeper, both my parents lost their dads when they were teenagers, and neither had any life insurance. My mom was one of five kids, and remembers that her mom had to sell most of the farm off as a result. When my sister and I came along, my parents got life insurance. They wanted to make sure, based on their experience, that we would be taken care of if something happened to them. That certainly stuck with me.
You’re only as good as your goals and your aspirations. So, shoot for the stars and land on the moon! That’s my plan.
LH: People might be thinking, “Well, I’ll never be racing at Talladega. I don’t need life insurance.”
Danica Patrick: Granted, my situation is unique. Most people don’t drive racecars for a living, so I think it’s probably easy for them to put off getting life insurance. You think you have time. You’re not expecting anything to happen, but it can. A good friend of mine in racing just lost his car chief to a heart attack at 34 years old. That’s crazy. Bad things can happen. That’s just life. And that’s why life insurance is just an easy and smart way to eliminate a risk from your life.
I also think there’s a misconception that only the primary breadwinner needs life insurance. The other partner may be doing the cooking and cleaning, running the kids around and all sorts of things that help the family operate. If something happens to them, those things still need to be done, and there might not be enough time in the day for the other half to take care of those things or the money hire someone to do it. So it’s smart for both to have life insurance.
LH: What’s it like to be a woman in a male-dominated sport?
Danica Patrick: It’s challenging to answer that because that’s all I’ve ever been, but what does it mean? It means anything is possible. It means you’re only as good as your goals and your aspirations. So, shoot for the stars and land on the moon! That’s my plan.
LH: We all want to know what you’re like behind the wheel when you’re just driving down the road.
Danica Patrick: Well, I have to admit, I’m pretty aggressive on the regular road. I’ve been told I need to take that aggression from the road to the racetrack more often. So I’m practicing that! It’ll pay off a lot better in my job.
LH: Any parting advice?
Danica Patrick: When it comes to life insurance, think about it this way: If you were to pass away, it’s going to be awful for those left behind. There are people who are going to mourn and suffer—perhaps financially as well, and whatever you can do to make that transition as easy as possible is the kind thing to do, the unselfish thing to do.
Many people in their 40s are facing an uncomfortable fact: They simply aren’t where they’d hoped to be financially. Fortunately, all their life experience can help correct for past mistakes.
“There’s a different trigger moment for everybody,” says Jay Howard, financial advisor and partner at MHD Financial in San Antonio, Texas. “But regardless of when it comes, people find themselves looking down the barrel of a gun as they consider retirement.”
One challenge is that it’s impossible to advise 40-somethings based on tidy “life stage” demographics. Some are just starting families, while others are sending offspring to college. They’re married, single, divorced, and just about everything in between.
But for those still grappling with financial instability, these four principles can help in moving forward with confidence:
It could be one great decision sandwiched in between some fails, or just a single good habit that can mitigate the impact of a host of wrongs.
Take the example of Kiera Starboard, a 46-year-old controller at a San Diego software firm. A mom to two adult sons and a teenage stepson, she always made having sufficient life insurance—both term and permanent—a priority, the result of her previous training as a financial advisor. “Even if it was tight, I made the payments,” she says. “It was a priority for my family’s sake, and for my own peace of mind.”
Unlike the 40% of Americans who have no life insurance, Starboard was protected when the unthinkable happened last August. Less than two years into her marriage, her husband, Steve, was killed while riding his motorcycle to work—one month after they purchased a small, additional life insurance policy to supplement his employer coverage.
“To have had to deal with financial stress on top of everything else, it would have been unbearable, incapacitating,” says Starboard. “My stepson and I are certainly in a much better position today than we would have been, had Steve and I not followed the advice I used to give to others.”
For many, the hardest part can be learning to put your own long-term future first—sometimes for the first time in your life.
“I see people focusing on their kids’ college savings, and not enough on retirement or an emergency fund for themselves,” says Starboard. Many advisors point out that kids can borrow for college if necessary, but no one can borrow for retirement.
The most important step is clear, says Howard: “You must have a written financial plan, period. Because that plan will dictate what you must do to be successful for the entirely of your life.
“The financial plan is your road map,” he continues. “In it will be your portfolio requirements, your savings goals, and your insurance-related needs.”
Finally, make sure your plan takes inflation into account, commonly estimated at 3% a year. Says Howard, “Inflation is the silent assassin that eats away at your nest egg.”
“Treat the numbers determined by your plan—such as monthly savings—as bills that need to be paid,” advises Howard. When money comes in, it’s easy to start thinking of a new kitchen or a trip to Tulum. “Just be patient and keep the bills paid.”
Using that wisdom also applies to the big stuff. As the executor to her husband’s estate, Starboard has held back making any major decisions. “In a prior loss, I committed to real estate transactions and other things prematurely. At the time, it really felt like the right thing to do but my grief clouded my perception. I had a painful, expensive learning lesson.”
Forward thinking is an essential part of your financial plan, says Howard. “Get help really envisioning what kind of retirement you want. For each aspect, really drill down. For instance, where do you want to live? Do you want to be near your grandkids? Will you have the money to go see them? How often? It’s not just financial planning, it’s life planning.”
If all that forward thinking feels presumptuous, Howard recalls the eminently quotable Yogi Berra, who once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.”
And finally, remember the simple refrain: it’s never too late.