Insurance is Like a Parachute

Someday, I’d like to go skydiving.  It’s one of those things on my bucket list that life just keeps pushing on to the back burner.   Perhaps this is something you’ve always wanted to do too.  Or perhaps the very thought of it gives you chills down your spine.

I know that if and when I do eventually sky dive, I will be checking my parachute many times before I jump out of the plane.  To state the obvious, forgetting my parachute would be the biggest (not to mention last) mistake of my life.  Not to be gory or melodramatic or anything. 

So what does this have to do with insurance?  Well, insurance is kind of like a parachute.  If you don’t have it when you need it…it’s too late.  

Many times, we get into a state of denial about catastrophes.  We aren’t going to die anytime soon.  We don’t need medical insurance because we’re so healthy.  We’ll never suffer from a disability.  Our home will never burn down.  We won’t go into a nursing home because our kids will take care of us.  The list goes on and on. 

I get it.  It’s not exactly the most pleasant of topics. 

But, no insurance company (unless forced to by the government) is going to let you buy life insurance when you’re on your death bed.  They won’t let you get medical insurance once you’ve broken your leg.  And they aren’t going to give you long term care insurance when you’re 90 years old and need some help taking care of yourself.

The bottom line is that you can’t get insurance when you need it.  You must get it before you need it. 

Are there certain types of insurance that you are avoiding because you don’t want to think about it? 

In other words, are you skydiving without a parachute?