Buying Life Insurance because of a Facebook post? Sounds a bit of an odd one but stay with me a moment and it will make more sense. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have heard me talk about wanting to create a legacy for my kids. I probably went on about it a bit on Circus Mums too. Yet, no matter what I’ve earned in the past, I’ve never managed to secure savings for them. More fool me. But enter 2020 and its madness, aka the year anything becomes possible.
2020 has been a lot of things, it’s been a whirlwind, what with Covid-19, lockdown and the murder of George Floyd igniting a surge of attention to the Black Lives Matter Movement worldwide and a new resurgence of community within the black community. I noticed a few Facebook groups I’ve been a member of for some time absolutely explode with activity and positive intentions in June and I’m here for it.
In one such group, I think it was The Black Owned Economy, but I could be mistaken, I saw a post from a member called Des discussing an easy way to give your kids £1million. It wasn’t a get rich quick scheme or some scam. It was really simple. He was a financial advisor, discussing the importance of having a life insurance policy. More specifically, a ‘Whole of Life’ policy so that, as long as you kept up to date with all your payments, upon your death, your beneficiaries would receive the sum lined out in your policy, in his example, £1million.
He then went on to explain how your children could take out their own life insurance policies, paying for it and supplementing their own lifestyles using the interest of the original £1million (let that money sit in the bank and only touch the interest!) this time, say for £2million and so on and so on, from one generation to the next.
It sounds simple enough. Maybe even common sense to have a life insurance policy but I’ll let you in on a not so secret, secret. I’ve never had life insurance. It just never seemed something people like me had or needed. Don’t even get me started on what I mean by people like me, honestly I need to unpack that for myself.
It just wasn’t something I’d really given much thought to. I mean once, a couple of years ago I’d looked into it but the person I spoke to hadn’t really spent any time getting to know me or my financial situation and had quoted me such an extortionate amount for the policy that I’d laughed and never returned his calls.
But something about this time was different. I found myself emailing Des, the guy from the video clip and telling him that what he’d spoken about and the way he’d spoken about it had moved me. I wanted to create a legacy for my kids. That as much as I wanted to set them up during my lifetime, if I could at least guarantee it in my death at the very minimum, then I’d be happy and I wanted him to help me.
And he did. Des, the Financial Advisor spoke with me. He explained how the different types of life insurance worked. He listened to my pain points, he understood where I was in my life’s journey and what I could afford to pay. He was a font of information and was even kind enough to let me record him for my Podcast and IGTV episode to help share his knowledge and debunk any myths or misconceptions around money and life insurance that other people may have had.
I want to create a legacy during my lifetime. I want my girls to not have to worry about paying back student loans or having to go without in order to keep food on their tables. These are things I’d like to do whilst I’m on the planet. But I won’t lie, I find so much comfort in knowing that whether I die at 35 or 95, they will receive a little financial cushion to help them through any hardship!
It goes without saying, I’m not a Financial Advisor and I am in no way giving you any financial advice in this post or any other! If you’re interested in learning more about any type of financial service I’d recommend you seek professional advice. I’m simply sharing my own experience in choosing to take out life insurance.
