September 2004

Fraternal benefits

Why do you need life insurance after age 60?

The old theory of life insurance needs went something like this: You buy lots of life insurance when your family is young and you have a big mortgage … and you start to decrease it as your responsibilities lessen as you get older.

While some of this theory still has some merit … it has been the cause of more heartache than anyone could ever have imagined. Why? Because it leaves our ladies in a tremendously bad financial situation when we die as older gentlemen.

Two of the biggest culprits are our pension and social security. Both a traditional pension and social security retirement offer an income stream that is greatly lessened or even eliminated at the man’s death. Most wives can expect to get only 50% of their husband’s pension and social security is a 33% loss of family social security income.

The good news is that with a phone call to your council benefits advisor he may be able to help you untangle this mess. Even if your health isn’t great … you might be able to get some life insurance from the K of C.

You know, we tend to get so caught up in our day to day living that we many times don’t take care of these unpleasant planning tasks that need to be addressed.

Remember – charity begins at home.

TOM WHITE,FICF

410.581.1740/ 800.562.1882