So, as much as I can get frustrated with the world of technology and on line intrusion, I actually appreciate the ease at which I can browse more heavy-duty features of my life on the web. For example, I have four kids, and although I am not old, I am more than wary that one day they will need some backup when I am not around anymore. Life Insurance is an easy gift to get online, and I really do see it as a gift. It's so easy to shirk away from the whole subject for fear of prompting some terrible fate. But it's just a simple process any responsible adult should take. Approaching it that way cuts out all the morbid sentimentality and just focus' on what I'm giving my children to keep them safe and protected later on. That's essentially what it is: bubble wrap, to keep them okay.
The good thing about life insurance is that it is actually more of an investment. If you get remotely philosophical about it, you actually begin to appreciate that your life extends way beyond a living-and breathing situation. Your life - so to speak - is your children, your home, and your world you have created and left behind. So it actually makes perfect sense to ensure that it's kept safe.
There's something about doing it online that helps keep it quite a formal process, there's no emotional speech from the insurers or you to make you feel the weight of a future you essentially have little say in. I took an afternoon to browse the various investments available to me and my family. There are simply a ton of sites to choose from - really. I narrowed it down to a site called Asda Finance, because they had an on line life insurance form for families I could fill in and get an immediate quote from. I compared it with a few others and for what it offers, it seems fair. I also looked at pension ideas at Virgin Money, which was useful for my long-term planning (although this is probably far more of a gift to me!).
It just makes me feel that it's a number on a shopping list I've been compiling for some time that I got round to checking off. It'll pay off mortgages and when the kids go to college, I can rest assure that they'll graduate without too much debt, whatever happens. Life Insurance is a clean, decisive way of sorting out the financial hangovers one leaves behind after you go. Instead of it being an administrative task that you avoid at all costs, and leave until the last minute, it should put your mind at ease.
Posted on Monday, June 02, 2008 4:35 AM by Carol Ann