Guarding against the certainty of uncertainty: The low cost life insurance

Cheap term life insurance quotes may eventually turn out more costly than anticipated once the other non-economic considerations enter the picture. But one can turn the odds in his or her favor by a wise and considered look at the various options open in the insurance market.

The modern world is characterized by uncertainty. No one really can predict with a certain degree of accuracy what would happen within a day. What more are the chances of being able to say what would happen to you within thirty years? Or twenty? Or ten? Since the global village began emerging some fifty years ago, the world starting changing in ways that defy predictability. With the globalization of finance came also the globalization of terror; with the globalization of environmental concerns came the globalization of fear about climate change, extreme fluctuations of temperature and weather, and constantly mutating viruses. These conditions affect the ordinary individual in various ways. Diseases have become more virulent. Overpopulation has bred congestion and the uncertainties of urban life. Pollution takes thousands of lives a day. Ironically, technology has both become sophisticated and dangerous. What could better exemplify this than the number of times car companies have withdrawn millions of units from their markets and from motorists because of belatedly discovered faulty brakes, transmissions and even wiring systems?

The certainty of uncertainty indeed makes us think twice about our plans of building a stable and secure future for ourselves and our families. It is of course true that we try to do the best we can under the circumstances but what about the unforeseen – the fortuitous event – that is always there at the back of our minds, to which we often look to over our shoulders? It is in this light that we hedge our bets and go for back-up. In these cases, this takes the form of the insurance policy.

People, of course, are immediately attracted to cheap term life insurance quotes never knowing that these could end up being more expensive in the long run. The so-called low cost life insurance may sometimes be misleading since there are added costs to the quote that are not mentioned by the insurance agent who, himself, may not even know these exist. Some examples of these are the time spent listening to the spiels and pitches of insurance agents who, armed with glossy charts and impressive comparison tables, make it their aim to charm the prospective client and recruit him or her into their programs. This time could be more productively spent in the office, completing some paid-for work or meeting with your own prospective clients. It could also be spent closing a deal with a business partner or completing a transaction with a buyer. Time is money in the global world where a minute wasted means a lost opportunity to do business.

There is also the time spent fulfilling the requirements of a policy application. A primary example of this is the time spent on the physical or medical examination which is a prerequisite in almost all insurance policies with the exception of the life insurance no exam option where the insurance agency merely asks of the prospective client a few general questions about his or her age and the general state of his or her health. No further physical exam is needed and no hassles made. However, these type of insurance options are short-term and therefore affords the insured person a short period of coverage against uncertainty. Physical exams are a must for long term policies such as the twenty-year or thirty-year insurance term.

In short, low cost insurance is not really about the price of the policy. It is about the overall cost of taking out such policy including the opportunity costs of the agent’s spiel, the time spent filling out the application, the interview and the physical exam, and the foregone opportunities of pursuing the ends of one’s own interests. Ultimately, however, these had to be considered vis-à-vis the purposes of a life insurance policy. Is safeguarding against the certainty of uncertainty worth the money and time spent on a low cost insurance policy? I suppose for the family man, the answer would be in the affirmative.