Life Insurance is not for Life Assurance – by Jerry Black

Jennifer Hester |

When I first began my financial planning career almost 25 years ago, I was influenced and impacted by Mr. John Keeble. To many he was known as the Father of Financial Planning. That’s a story for another day! One of the tenets he believed and which underlies our principles here at Legacy planning Group is the following:


“A good financial plan involves the coordination of investments, insurance, banking, tax expertise, and estate planning.” At Legacy Planning Group we have adopted and embrace the principle that everything affects everything else.


This and recent conversations cause me to reflect about something that few of us like. Life insurance!! Most insurance agents love to sell it but few of us like to buy it. A client couple whom we serve at Legacy has wrestled (with good reason) over how much insurance and why. Good financial planners know insurance is a tool and are obligated to consider its relevance in the circumstances. Something to keep in mind is that life insurance does not assure life. It’s for provision. It doesn’t protect life at all. It’s there to provide for those we love and have a responsibility to help. In some cases it’s used to provide resources for business partners in the event of a key life loss. But it doesn’t assure that the business or the lives of those to whom it’s benefitted will succeed thereafter. A future blog will address these matters further.