Amanda's Story: You Can't Buy Love, Or Can You?

Nobody likes to buy insurance.  It’s the one item that we buy that there is not a guarantee on a certain return.   We hear the tragic stories of others on our newsfeed or on the news.  We think for a moment, what if something unfortunate happens to myself or one of my family members? These morbid thoughts would enter into my head and then I’d dismiss it and tell myself, “I am not going to be like one of those people that I see on the funny insurance commercials.  Do squirrels really high five each other on the side of the road when we swerve to miss them?  I would run that darn squirrel right over”!  Then I’d carry on with life, hiding my head in the sand, hoping nothing ever happens to me.
 
Buying insurance is so expensive!  I was also one of those people who felt that buying insurance was expensive.  Every time that payment came out of my bank account, I moaned and groaned about the cost, griping “why is insurance so expensive”, sound familiar?
 
Nobody is going to get rich off my death! Don’t even get me started on life insurance.  Why am I buying something that is not even for when I am around?  My family will be okay without me, they don’t need to get rich off of my death!   I will carry just enough insurance to make sure my bills are covered.  I don’t need to talk to some insurance guy who’s going to try to oversell me, I will just sign up for a life insurance policy that my bank offers me in the mail, and I am covered.
 
Then tragedy happened - in 2011 at the ripe old age of 38, life happened to me.  A really weird series of events that I could never predict to happen, happened.  It wasn’t an accident; no squirrels were high fiving; but, in a matter of a couple of weeks, both of my parents were diagnosed with cancer at the age of 59 and 60.  My first discovery was finding out my parents didn’t have enough health insurance to cover this type of disease; - and as the only child, and no other extended family that lived near us; - I found myself as a newly divorced single mom, abandoning my home and career, moving into my  parents’ home to care for both of them.  I lost my mom a couple of months later and then my dad about a year later.  If it wasn’t enough enduring the loss of both of my parents; I was then faced with the financial devastation of not working.  I worked when I could, but the majority of the 14 months, I was attempting to carry two mortgages on just one source of disability income.   My parents carried just enough insurance to cover their expenses, but they didn’t think of the “other” expenses that can go along with a loss.  I won’t bore you with the extra expense list – but the “other expenses” are way more than what one could ever anticipate on a basic life insurance policy.
 
My parents loved me and didn’t do this on purpose - I have to imagine, if my parents would have known what I now know, they would have sat down with an insurance professional and ensured that they were properly covered.  No parent wants to see their child suffer financially the way that I have.  They would have “bought” me their love in protection.
 
It’s time to get raw and real….
Here’s the raw and real truth to this whole ordeal - 7 years later, I am still recovering financially.  The math doesn’t make sense, does it?  It shouldn’t be this way.   The loss of a loved one(s) is enough to endure, we don’t need to add on financial pain to the wound, too.  It’s, as they say, adding salt to an open wound.
 
Let me ask you a raw and real question - after hearing my story, what legacy do you wish to leave for your family?  All it takes is the courage to have a conversation with one of our professionals.  A conversation that could leave a legacy of “love of protection” to your family.  I encourage you to look at this insurance topic from a different angle.  Ask yourself, if I die tomorrow what am I leaving my family with?  Death is a morbid question to ask, but an essential question to discover if you want to protect your family from dealing with the tragedy like me.  I wish we could live in a bubble in a happy world that nothing bad happens, but we will all have our own tragedy story eventually. The variable is this – will we have enough insurance to cover it?
 
Wow, sad story, but I can’t afford to buy extra insurance- some of you are thinking, I probably should look at my insurance, but I can’t afford to.  I am going to challenge you on this and ask you – how can you afford not to?  If there is a will, there is a way.  I would rather skip the coffee drive through and make my own coffee daily so I can afford to properly insure myself and my family.  I won’t be making this same mistake twice!  I have found the value in spending money towards loving myself and my family by properly protecting them and I hope you do too.
 
I am just one of many stories that make up our caring group of insurance professionals:
At Agri-Services Agency, many of us joined this company because we all have our personal reasons to keep our family, friends and community protected.  One of the reasons I decided to enter into the insurance profession is to be able to offer advice and help people understand, what my parents and I didn’t understand.  You and your family deserve the love of protection from potential tragedy in life.  Insurance is affordable to everyone.  Let us show you how it can fit into your specific lifestyle.