My story is somewhat common, but is proof that quality advice is worth it. My
father passed away at the age of forty-five in the early 1970s, leaving six dependents:
my mother, four children, and my elderly maternal grandmother who
lived with us. Despite my father being an executive, he and my mother lived a
lower-middle income life. We never took a family vacation, had one car and two
TVs, both black and white, years later upgrading to color TVs. One of my father’s
friends convinced he and my mother early in their marriage that spending money
on life insurance policies was the prudent thing to do when one has a family. It
turned out to be incredibly sound advice.
After my father died, my mother continued to raise us as a single parent. Because
of the insurance policy proceeds, she was able to be a full-time parent and
focus on us. We all were raised by her through our grade school and high school
years, and all but one of us got into college during this time, while our mother
was able to focus exclusively on parenting by staying out of the workforce. Years
later, as we all look back, we each are college educated, in our fifties, with families
of our own.
Aside from the twists and turns we have had as individuals, we all agree things may have been very different and much worse for one of us, or perhaps several of us, had our mother been forced to work during our early years. The great advice from an insurance agent very likely changed the course of our lives. I am very thankful as well that my parents took the great advice from that insurance agent, as they could have easily used that money for more material and immediate desires.
Nicholas W. Stuller 