The Possibility of a New Life

by Natalie Chambliss | October 15, 2024

The Possibility

of a New Life

It started with a happy hour. Josh Fiedler picked up Liz to bring her to an after-work event when a mutual friend could no longer attend. The accidental twosome that started that day turned into an engagement nine months later.

What also happened quickly was a discussion about money. “In the beginning of our relationship, Josh was asking me about finances, including life insurance. He really felt strongly that we should both get it, and so we did,” says Liz.

Josh and Liz Fiedler with their daughter Vidalia

Starting a Family

The couple married and their careers unfolded, Liz as a nurse practitioner and Josh as an agricultural lender. Their family grew as well with the birth of Vidalia. That’s when the couple purchased additional life insurance. They just never thought they would need it.

On a cold December day, everything changed. Liz became worried when Josh’s colleagues called saying he had missed several appointments. A short time later, he was discovered at the foot of his treadmill at home, having suffered a cardiac event while doing a workout. He was only 39 and had been given a clean bill of health just two days prior.

While shock overwhelmed Liz, financial worries did not. Josh’s life insurance allowed her to take a leave of absence from work to grieve and care for her 3-year-old. In addition, the day after Josh’s funeral, Liz discovered she was pregnant with their second daughter, Davie.

“No one can prepare you for the death of your spouse,” says Liz, “but having life insurance meant we could continue on with the life that Josh and I had begun.” For Liz, this meant growing the flower business she and Josh had started on the family farm they’d purchased. She has also built a new home to replace the dilapidated farmhouse. The life insurance has allowed Liz and her girls to truly build a new life.

“I tell anyone who will listen that life insurance is so important, no matter how young and healthy you are. My life is proof,” says Liz.

“ No one can prepare you for the death of your spouse, but having life insurance meant we could continue on with the life that Josh and I had begun.”

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A Timely Change of Heart

by Devin Pascoe | May 18, 2023

Fast forward to today—“The years have brought an increased resonance of how vital and important it truly was to have the freedom and time to make decisions and how grateful I am to have had those options,” says Dean Hoskins. Hattie is now married and in a job she loves. Dorsey is also married with two young girls and is busy running a business.
Updated in May 2023

Dorsey Hoskins’ father, Bryan, felt a tingling in his arm. The diagnosis—an inoperable brain tumor. Six months later, he died at the age of 33, leaving his wife to raise Dorsey and her sister Hattie.

Fortunately, Bryan bought life insurance when he married, and again when his daughters were born. Thanks to Bryan’s foresight, Dorsey, Hattie and their mom are taken care of.

Making the Transition

by Devin Pascoe | November 1, 2022

No one expects to meet the love of their life at age 11. But that’s how it unfolded for Jeanie Kazemier. Tom was her brother’s best friend growing up, but it wasn’t until college that things turned serious.

When they got married in their late 20s, they knew the fit was right. “Opposites attract,” says Jeanie. “Tom helped me become more focused and thoughtful. I helped him become more spontaneous and enjoy life.”

True to his role, Tom got Jeanie involved in their finances, which included getting life insurance. He wanted to ensure Jeanie and their children, Kennedy and Aiden, would always be OK financially.

Unimaginable Loss

And true to her role, Jeanie encouraged Tom to go on his yearly snowmobiling trip with friends, despite a full plate at work. He called her from that trip, saying he was having the time of his life. Tragically, that was the last conversation they had. He was hit by another snowmobiler, who was driving drunk, and was killed instantly.

The world collapsed for Jeanie and the kids. Grief overwhelmed them and Jeanie admits she felt lost. Thankfully, her insurance professional, Barb Pietrangelo, reassured her that Tom’s life insurance would help them make the immediate transition, paying for the funeral and ongoing bills and expenses.

Barb also helped put the life insurance proceeds to work for the long-term. It paid for mental health counseling so the family could cope with their grief. It covered private health insurance Jeanie now needed. And it set them up for the future so they could continue living in their home, and plan for college, retirement and even family vacations.

“Tom’s motto was: Be prepared. You don’t know what life will hand you,” says Jeanie. “Our situation now would be totally different if he hadn’t had life insurance. It’s a godsend that Tom had that forethought and planned for our future.”

El ABC de los seguros de vida

by Devin Pascoe | August 15, 2022

View this video in English here.

En realidad, nadie quiere pensar en tener un seguro de vida. Pero si alguien depende de ti a nivel financiero, es un tema inevitable. Contratar un seguro de vida no tiene por qué ser difícil ni aburrido. Hay ciertas preguntas básicas sobre los seguros de vida que puedes hacerte para tomar decisiones informadas sobre cómo proteger financieramente a tus seres queridos.

It’s a True Financial Lifeline

by Devin Pascoe | December 3, 2021

Diligent, hardworking, civic-minded, a family man. These are all terms that Sara Mathews Dixon uses to describe her husband, Jay. And it was those qualities that made a great husband and father, and a dedicated police officer.

Like many young families, Sara and Jay found themselves juggling kids, school, work schedules, sports, meals and family time with sons Lorenzo, Anthony and Nico. But the couple relished their family life.

And it was Jay’s dedication to his family that also made life insurance a priority. “The kids were the most important thing in his life,” says Sara, and so they both purchased coverage in their late 20s, which included term life insurance, as well as permanent policies both for themselves and their children. They eventually converted a portion of their term insurance to whole life with their insurance professional, Richard Terhune.

A Turn of Fate

Jay was a lifelong athlete and spent time playing sports with his sons. But his active lifestyle couldn’t prevent a serious illness from damaging his heart, which eventually lead to a heart transplant.

After the operation, life returned to a semblance of normality for the Dixons. Then came the afternoon of January 4. The couple was at home with the boys when Jay appeared to have a seizure. Paramedics were unable to revive him, and he died at age 40. “My world exploded,” says Sara. “It’s been traumatic, especially for the boys, who are now 12, 10 and 5.”

But amidst all this, one thing she hasn’t had to worry about is money. “Jay’s life insurance has been a true financial lifeline,” she says. “It means we don’t have to move in with my mother or make any major changes right now after all that’s happened to us.”

Her advice to other parents is to consider life insurance early on, before health issues make it hard or impossible to get. “We don’t control the universe,” she says, “and you don’t know what’s going to happen down the line. Life insurance can keep you and your children in your own world.”