The Responsible Thing to Do

The Responsible Thing to Do

by | May 18, 2020

Fast forward to today—Nathan, Summer’s son, is now 15 and a sophomore in high school. The life insurance Summer purchased when she was pregnant has allowed Nathan to pursue his dreams throughout childhood, and some money has been set aside for college. “Her belief in life insurance at such a young age and her love for her son still amaze me today,” says Coleen, Nathan’s grandmother.
Updated in May 2023

Summer was much like her name: bright, bubbly and energetic. She was also hardworking. At 22, she was managing her own household, working full-time as a waitress, while attending school with dreams of becoming a doctor.

She would stop by the insurance agency each month to pay her auto insurance and was always greeted by insurance professional Christie Trahan. One month, Summer revealed that she was expecting a baby. Christie was thrilled for her, but also knew she had to talk to Summer about something more serious: life insurance. Summer listened carefully, but said she’d think about it. Money was tight for the single mom-to-be; she also wanted to discuss it with her mother, Coleen.

After asking her over the course of several months, Christie told Summer that she felt she needed to ask one last time: “Are you sure you don’t want to buy that life insurance?” At $12 a month, Christie felt that it was affordable even for a working student. Summer agreed, saying that she knew it was the right thing to do, even though her mother had advised her to wait. That was a fateful decision. Just nine months after Summer gave birth to Nathan, she was struck by a car while walking and killed.

After the accident, Coleen called Christie to ask if Summer had gone ahead and bought the policy. Christie assured her she had. Relief swept over Coleen, as she now had funds to give Summer a beautiful funeral. The death benefit also allowed Coleen to take a leave of absence from her job to take care of Nathan.

Nathan is now a happy 5-year-old, and Coleen has officially adopted him. She set aside the remaining money from Summer’s policy for Nathan to use for college. “I’m so proud of Summer for making that wise decision for Nathan,” says Coleen.

Careful Planning Saved a Family and a Business

Careful Planning Saved a Family and a Business

by | May 18, 2020

The change from being a pastor to opening up an IT business is not for the fainthearted. But Tim Meredith knew this career leap would benefit his family by allowing them to stay in the area they loved, while also letting him to try something new.

While it may have been an adventure, neither Tim nor his insurance professional Joe Grabar, CLU, CFP, took the change lightly. Since Tim no longer had benefits through the church, they put in place health insurance, increased his personal disability insurance coverage, and added long-term care insurance. Importantly, Tim also got a disability insurance overhead policy for the business.

Just six months later, on a Sunday afternoon, Tim found himself doubled over in pain. What he thought was a kidney stone was, in fact, an iliac aneurism, which caused him to suffer two strokes. Doctors operated, but said he only had a 5 percent chance of survival. Tim beat those odds, reviving from a coma after three weeks and eventually moving on to rehab.

While Tim has been away from his fledgling business, it continues on in his absence because of the planning he and Joe had done. The disability insurance overhead policy helps the business meet payroll and pay vendors, while assuring customers that the business will go on. Tim’s personal disability policy replaces a portion of his salary, which helps pay for the family’s everyday expenses, such as the mortgage and groceries. The long-term care policy is there to pick up where health insurance leaves off, when it comes to rehab and other care expenses.

Tim is doing better each day, and plans on going back to work at his company in the near future. “I’m so thankful I had these policies in place,” says Tim. “Without this planning, I’m not sure where my family would be financially, or if my business would even still be alive today.”

Building and Protecting a Life Together

Building and Protecting a Life Together

by | May 18, 2020

Ver en español aquí.

Felipe and Lissete Montes de Oca started dating while they were young, but they already had grown-up priorities. Even before getting married, the couple saved diligently to purchase a house, a dream for these children of Cuban immigrants.

That dream was realized when they got the keys to their first home just as they started their lives together. That’s when Pedro J. Busse, an insurance professional, helped them get life insurance. He emphasized the importance of covering their mortgage should something happen to one of them.

As Lissete advanced in her accounting career, Felipe took his love for home renovation and construction and turned it into a profitable business. Their dream was to provide a better future for their sons, Felipe, Jr. and Lucas, as the couple had both come from humble beginnings. As their family and income grew, Pedro helped the couple increase their life insurance and get long-term care insurance.

Their lives took a detour, however, when Felipe learned that the fatigue he was feeling was not due to overwork; instead doctors diagnosed him with leukemia. Aggressive treatments made it impossible for Felipe to work, but because of his long-term care policy, they didn’t need to use their retirement savings to pay for his care. Felipe also didn’t worry about paying for his life insurance coverage because each of his policies had a rider that waived his premiums in the event of a disability. After a three-year battle, Felipe finally succumbed to the disease. He was 47.

More than 700 people came to Felipe’s funeral. His love of life had touched so many in his community. His family, however, was at the center of that love. The life insurance ensured they would be OK financially and that his boys could attend college. “Life insurance is something you pay for, but never expect to use,” says Lissete. “But here I am, and I can’t imagine not having this support to help me through.”

Construyendo y protegiendo su futuro

Construyendo y protegiendo su futuro

by | May 18, 2020

View this video in English here.

Felipe y Lissete Montes de Oca comenzaron a salir cuando eran jóvenes, pero ya tenían prioridades de personas adultas. Aún antes de casarse, la pareja había ahorrado con esmero para comprar una casa, un sueño para estos hijos de inmigrantes cubanos.

Ese sueño se hizo realidad cuando recibieron las llaves de su primera casa, apenas empezaban a compartir su vida juntos. Allí fue cuando Pedro J. Busse, profesional de seguros, les ayudó a obtener un seguro de vida. Pedro puso énfasis en la importancia de cubrir su hipoteca por si le ocurría algo a alguno de ellos.

A medida que Lissete avanzaba en su carrera, Felipe convirtió su amor por la construcción y renovación de viviendas en un negocio rentable. Su sueño era dar un mejor futuro a sus hijos, Felipe Jr. y Lucas. A medida que la familia y los ingresos crecían, Pedro ayudó a la pareja a aumentar su seguro de vida y a conseguir una póliza de atención a largo plazo.

En 2007, sus vidas cambiaron cuando Felipe supo que la fatiga que sentía no se debía al trabajo en exceso, sino que los médicos le diagnosticaron leucemia. Los agresivos tratamientos hicieron que a Felipe le resultara imposible trabajar, pero gracias a su póliza de atención a largo plazo, no tuvieron que utilizar sus ahorros de retiro. Felipe tampoco tuvo que preocuparse por pagar su cobertura de seguro de vida, porque sus pólizas contenían una cláusula de exención de pago en caso de discapacidad. Después de tres años, Felipe finalmente fue vencido por la enfermedad. Tenía 47 años.

Más de 700 personas asistieron al funeral. Su amor por la vida había impactado en muchos miembros de la comunidad. Sin embargo, su familia estaba en el centro de ese amor. El seguro de vida les garantizó el bienestar financiero y permitió que sus hijos pudieran ir a la universidad. “El seguro de vida es algo que se paga, pero que nunca se espera usar” dice Lissete. “Pero aquí estoy y no puedo imaginar vivir sin este apoyo”.

Keeping a Farm in the Family

Keeping a Farm in the Family

by | May 18, 2020

As a third-generation dairy farmer, Paul Krzewina’s priority was keeping his 585-acre farm in the family. But doing that meant modernizing, and Paul needed to take out a mortgage to build new barns and buy additional cows. He was concerned, though, that the mortgage would be a burden to his wife, Michele, and their four young children if something were to happen to him. Donald Blahnik, LUTCF, their insurance professional, shared that concern and helped Paul buy a term life insurance policy, the only coverage he felt he could afford at the time.

Years later, with his children nearing adulthood and retirement within sight, Donald suggested that Paul consider converting the term policy to a whole life policy. Paul still needed to protect the next generation, and he liked the idea of accumulating cash values to supplement his retirement savings.

When Paul was diagnosed with a brain tumor three years later, the life insurance proved invaluable. He was able to use a loan against his policy’s cash values to pay his health insurance deductible.* In addition, Paul didn’t have to worry about keeping his policy in force because of a provision that waived his premiums in the event of a disability.

Paul died a couple years after his diagnosis, but his dreams for his family are very much alive today. His eldest son, Chad, 28, now runs the farm, and used part of the death benefit to add new barns. He plans to expand the operation to 500 cows, from the current 200. “We couldn’t have done any of these things without the insurance money,” Michele says.

*Withdrawing or borrowing funds from your policy will reduce its cash value and death benefit if not repaid, and may result in a tax liability if the policy terminates before the death of the insured.

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