Critical illness Insurance

Hello everyone,
When I started with the idea of this blog, I honestly thought that I would not make this a "plug" for the insurance business but after walking through seven cities and meeting the people I have, I feel compelled to say this. Talk to your life insurance agent about a product called "critical illness". Please. This product could be this most important product you can buy from your agent. It does not have to be a large amount because the product is more expensive than the traditional life insurance product, it may just be an amount that equals one year of mortgage payments.
Here is my experience with this product. The policy provides a lump sum, tax free benefit to you the policy owner. Now, I am not trying to scare you but imagine you are diagnosed with a critical illness, e.g. cancer, heart attack and stroke and live. Your life insurance, thankfully, is not paid, but because of your condition you may not be able to work for three months and when you do come back it may not be full time. This policy would pay you a lump sum benefit that would help you with the bills like your mortgage. Ironically, this policy was not the idea of the insurance companies but rather a doctor from South Africa who performed the first heart transplant on his own brother. Dr. Marius Bernard was the doctor who designed this product. He recognized the financial need that people have now when they survive a "critical illness". The product is not priced to have you live the "high life" after you survive but just imagine if you are a female, 37 years old who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. You wonder how you will maintain your full income and pay your bills. Chances are you can not do both. Now imagine yourself as a 37 year old female who has one of the policies and does not have to worry about the mortgage payment for the next year. Imagine how much of a weight that would be off your shoulders. Imagine how you would be able to concentrate on getting yourself healthy knowing that your mortgage is paid for, for at least one year. That was me. I had one of these policies and it was such a relief in so many ways knowing that the next year's mortgage was not going to be a problem. Now imagine that house with a spouse and kids. Imagine the relief then.
This product is much different than what most people know about life insurance. Again, it is more expensive because it is priced on the possibility of people getting sick at a younger age where the traditional life insurance policy is priced based on someone dying usually at a older age. The average age of a claim for critical illness in Canada is 42 years old. Yes, you are reading this correctly, the average age for a claim is 42 years old. You may have $250,000 of life insurance in force and it costs so much a year. It could be that $25,000 of critical illness costs the same amount depending on age, sex and smoking status. The other important factor is FAMILY HISTORY. The evidence shows that as a general rule we can't fight our family history. I am a shining example of this. My mother passed away from breast cancer at the age of 58, my maternal cousin at the age of 40 and her mother passed away in her mid 40's all from breast cancer. I was diagnosed at the age of 37 and for good measure let's throw in my dad who passed away from colon cancer at the age of 70. So I am not saying if your parents have had a critical illness you will(generally prior to age 65), it is that your chances are higher that you will. Most people are aware of this today and try to not do the same mistakes their parents did, however, the insurance companies have to price the product for this.
So, this is my commercial for the insurance industry. It is my (simpleton) opinion that just about everyone should have this product. It was "invented" by a doctor in South Africa who saw what the financial stress was causing his patients when they survived a criticall illness. It is more expensive than life insurance but there is a real reason for this. It is based on morbidity not mortality. Even though you do not live the same lifestyle as your parents, your family history does increase your risk of one of these critical illnesses. You may be a "standard" risk for life insurance but simply because of your family history you may be rated for that and nothing else.
I benefitted from this type of policy myself. I saw the men and women who have been diagnosed with this disease at such a young age. I try to make sure that all of my friends have this policy because I believe so strongly in it. If you are reading this and don't have this product or have not heard of it, please, please pick up the phone and call your life insurance agent to ask them more about this product. It could be one of the smartest things you can do to help you recover from a disease. It was one of the smartest things I did and trust me...I ain't that smart! Please, call your insurance agent about critical illness and just talk to them about it. I say this to you as a "friend" who cares, not as a person in the insurance business however I am very proud to say the insurance industry does care about Canadians. Their support of this product and of the Weekend to End Breast Cancer is proof of that.
With love and thanks,
M.J.