Most people think life insurance is there to protect families financially when someone dies. And while that’s true, the “living benefits” of life insurance can also help families beforehand. This has been true for Kelley and Doak Snead.

They are a match made in country music heaven—Nashville, where they met working in the industry and then bonded over their love of making music. Their love has grown over the past 23 years, and life insurance has been an important part of their life together. As Kelley grew her new career in real estate and Doak focused on raising their daughter, Emma, they knew they needed the financial safety net that life insurance offered.

Tragedy struck, however, when Kelley—the family’s main breadwinner—found out she had a drug-resistant type of Parkinson’s disease. It has slowly robbed her of her ability to work, and now even to care for herself. Fortunately, their insurance professional Wallene Leek had made sure that Kelley not only increased her life insurance over time, but that it had living benefits as well.

Kelley’s term life insurance policies have a disability waiver of premium, which means she never has to pay another premium. And because her diagnosis is terminal, the family is able to access a percentage of the death benefit now. That has meant the world to the Sneads.

The family has been able to stay in their home, instead of selling it, and Emma has been able to complete school. What’s more, Kelley and Doak are able to spend what time they have left without the crushing burden of financial worry. “Kelley’s disease may have taken away her livelihood, but life insurance has saved our lives at this point,” says Doak.

Steven and Ngoc Anh Tang left Vietnam to pursue the American dream: They wanted their children, Jimmy and Nancy, to have a better life. Their insurance professional Annie Vu also helped them secure their children’s financial future in case the worst were to happen. The couple purchased permanent life insurance for both Steven, who worked for an hourly wage, and for Ngoc Anh, who was mainly a stay-at-home mom.

It was on a trip with her mom and sister that Ngoc Anh was involved in a car accident. Her life-threatening injuries meant she was in and out of the hospital, but because her policy had a disability waiver of premium, she no longer had to pay for the policy. However, Ngoc Anh never fully recovered, and later died of a stroke. Again, her life insurance policy came through. Annie had advised the Tangs to get an accidental death rider, and because Ngoc Anh’s heart condition was a result of the accident, the family was entitled to double the original amount of the policy.

Now that he was a single father, Annie encouraged Steven to get additional life insurance to protect his children, which he did. Unfortunately, tragedy struck just three years after his wife had passed away. Steven learned he had liver cancer and died soon after his diagnosis. Nancy, a senior in high school, and Jimmy, who had graduated from college, were now on their own.

Thankfully, Annie and the money from the life insurance were there to shepherd them on their way. Nancy is now attending college, and the siblings have bought a house near campus so Jimmy can help his sister as they start a new chapter in their lives. They credit life insurance for that opportunity. “It’s vital for parents to have life insurance,” says Jimmy. “It means if you do die, your loved ones can go on without worrying about money while they get back on their feet.”

As their family grew, John’s business, Gongos Research, did as well. It was not only thriving financially, but it was a place where employees loved to work—it was like an extended family. John felt compelled to care for both his families—the one at home and at work.

As a child, John saw firsthand what happened when there was no life insurance. His father died at 43, leaving his mother to raise three children with no financial resources. Later, one of his first bosses died in his early 50s leaving his business affairs in disarray.

As a consequence, John worked closely with insurance professional Craig Wiklund, CLU, ChFC, to ensure that neither his family nor business would suffer if something happened to him. A key piece they put in place was a business succession plan, funded with life insurance. Craig also made sure that John had adequate personal life insurance.

That planning was fortuitous. An acute stomach pain that sent John to the emergency room turned out to be cancer. He died just nine days later at 51.

The grief was overwhelming, says Anne, but one thing she didn’t have to worry about then or into the future was money. She received the death benefit proceeds from John’s personal life insurance policy and money from the sale of the business, which was all laid out in the succession plan. In addition, the business transition went as planned, and the 100-plus employees that John considered family were able to keep their job and help the company thrive under the new owners.

“Because of the planning John and Craig did, my family is taken care of for life and the company is doing great,” says Anne. “Life insurance was truly John’s final gift to us.”

To understand how insurance can protect your family and your business, start here.