Insurance

My family and I spent fall break in the Smoky Mountains recently. If you’ve never visited that part of the country in the fall, I strongly suggest you make a point to. The air is crisp but not cold. The days are warm but the evenings are comfortably cool. What makes this time of year so special are the leaves. The random tapestry of red, gold, brown and splashes of green is a sight to see but one morning, the beautiful scenery that seemed to be changing daily reminded me how little control we have over our lives.

Life is full of transitions, some we can anticipate like the seasons changing but others may arrive without warning, similar to a summer thunderstorm that comes and goes within an hour. All we can do is prepare the best we can to protect the things that are most important to us…our family, our health and our assets. Thankfully, insurance companies continue to create various types of coverage to protect from loss such as life insurance and disability insurance which can replace a loss of earnings or the lack of assets. Umbrella coverage deepens and widens liability coverage which protects against loss created by questionable third parties.

There are plenty of other risks that life brings and the cost for most of those risks can be transferred to an insurance company. Sometimes the cost to transfer that risk is minimal for the coverage such as an umbrella policy mentioned above or identity theft protection insurance, both of which protect our investment capital. In other instances, the cost can be significant, especially if the coverage protects our
health or our human capital (the ability for us to earn an income and accumulate assets). Whether the cost of coverage seems more or less expensive, a comprehensive review of risks is critical to determining which risks are of most concern and how best to mitigate those risks.

Successful families have worked hard to put themselves in the position of being able to take care of themselves. Discipline, diligence and good planning are the ingredients to getting to that point in life; however, those same qualities can also create an illusion of control. Insurance may not be the most intriguing topic to discuss, but it is a great way to minimize the impact of unanticipated events that make life challenging.