THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM (08/29/04)

THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

INSURANCE MATTERS

by Joseph Hawryluk

Dear Osyp:

My wife keeps bothering me to get life insurance. We're both in our 40s, have good jobs and don't intend to have any children. Why should I spend money on life insurance?

- Wasyl

Dear Wasyl:

Unfortunately, life insurance is basically for those you leave behind. It's also a fact that men die younger than women, that Social Security provides only a $255 death benefit, and that if your employer happens to offer you a life insurance death benefit it is group life insurance payable only while you are actively employed. If you happen to die in-between jobs, while working as a contractor, etc., your wife will not get anything.

It's also true that, with a cash-value life insurance policy, while you're still alive you can save some money on taxes building up an estate, get loans at favorable interest rates, get subscription discounts on Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, get discounts when you stay at Soyuzivka, get a UNA prescription drug discount card, etc., but the big money still would be paid out after you die.

So, you say, what does she need all this money for? I would imagine that with two incomes and no children, you are living a pretty comfortable lifestyle. You probably have a big house (big mortgage), fancy cars (car loans), maybe a boat (also financed), etc. Wasyl, she would need the life insurance money to keep up the loan payments while she adjusts to living on one paycheck. She would also probably like to pay your final medical bills and give you a decent funeral, complete with a nice casket and plot in the cemetery, and a bountiful funeral breakfast at which all your friends could get together and remember you fondly.

- Osyp

Joseph (Osyp in Ukrainian) Hawryluk is an advisor on the UNA General Assembly, chairman of the Buffalo UNA District and secretary of UNA Branch 360. This is an occasional column on insurance that appears in The Ukrainian National Association Forum.

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