Why It's Time To Make Your Grown-Up To-Do List

Most people don't plan on dying at a young age (yep, I'm diving right into this morbid discussion) but the reality is that it happens.

It's really crappy, it sucks, it's not fair, but it happens. So my husband and I recently decided we should finally tick some things off of our Grown-Up To-Do List, and making a will was one of those things. (It had actually been on our list for the last two years...procrastinate much?) But, we did it. And we had to make some really tough decisions, so we did what any educated grown ups would do: we threw some names into a hat, played rock scissors paper, flipped a coin and called it a day. Signed. Sealed. Done. 

Phew.

Then we scrolled further down our Grown-Up To-Do List and realized that we needed more life insurance. We both have insurance through work, but it's not enough. Sure it seems like a small jackpot right now, but when you consider how much our grocery bill is each month *gasp*, and our son's addiction to truck toys, we quickly realized it wasn't enough. 

That's when I started to research just how much life insurance we actually needed.

Here is some of what I learned:

• You need 5 times your current salary (each). Yikes. I better start earning less money OR purchase more life insurance.
• 65% of middle income Canadians have inadequate coverage and are under-insured.
• That there are life insurance benefits you can access while living! (I found this one surprising!). Benefits can include the ability to access money to pay tuition, contribute to a down payment on a home, help to fund a business, or help to meet your retirement needs.

My research was helped by looking at Empire Life's 10 Misconceptions About Life Insurance article.

So my husband and I put on our grown-up hats again and decided to purchase more life insurance. We've come that far. Now we just need to actually purchase more life insurance (one step at a time, it took us two years to make a will, remember?) Since I am such a deal hound, we will definitely be speaking with the people at Empire Life. Their rates for term insurance are very competitive (sometimes much lower than mortgage insurance offered by banks) and they have a 99% claim fulfillment rate.

But seriously, unless we want to leave our kids with a collection of antique spoons to help them get through University should something happen to us, we'd better get our butts in gear. We don't want to be those people. You know. The people that die without life insurance, because that would be dumb. 

And speaking of dumb ways to die, check this video out and get ready to be singing it for days!

So be honest — do you have life insurance? If not, what are your reasons?