Fraternity-Testvériség, 1970 (48. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-01-01 / 1. szám
LÁSZLÓ L. ESZENYI: INSURANCE COUNSELING THE “CANNOT AFFORD IT” PEOPLE Our representatives are often facing people who are in dire need of insurance, still flatly turning down their proposals: “We cannot yet afford it”. They are mostly young men at the threshold of their life and their responsibilities are disproportionally high compared to their meager income. Some others — especially in the ethnic groups — are newcomers in the United States, who are forced to restart their new life with a rather modest income. These latter ones infrequently had bad experiences with insurance companies in their old country and understandably mistrust all kinds of insurance people. In this article we try to arrive at the best possible insurance coverage for both aforementioned types through intelligent programming. The first category will he represented by a 21 year old man, married, having a year old baby. His wife has no professional training whatsoever. Let’s assume that he is a clerk in a food store, with a weekly take home wage of $85.00, and occasional bonuses. He is living with his family in a modest 1 bedroom apartment and has no car. His wife is not able to work because of the baby. At first glance one is inclined to agree with their reluctance to take any insurance since premiums just do not seem to have a place in their tight budget. On the other hand, considering the grave situation which might develop upon the untimely death of the bread-winner, a proper insurance coverage is a must. Let’s establish first the minimum coverage required under the above circumstances. We believe that at least $5,000 will be needed to pay off outstanding debts of the family and provide income in addition to the social security benefits while the widow goes through adequate job training to get a gainful and decent occupation. Our insurance portfolio offers two such plans on which dues are not prohibitive in the aforementioned situation. The first one is the Special Twenty Year Term. $5,0U0 coverage costs $2.69 per month, or just 9 pennies a day. A bit more expensive is the Preferred Whole Life for which the young head of the household also qualifies. Dues on $5,000 of such insurance would amount to $6.42, or 21 - pennies a day. Explaining these possibilities let the prospect select from the proposed plan but don’t let him say that he “cannot AFFORD IT!” The other group be represented by a 45 year old man, married, having two children, one 12 and the other 14 years old. They recently arrived in the United States and they still struggle with the English language. He works in a factory as general worker where he and the members of his family are covered under a group hospitalization plan. She is 42 years old and occasionally works in private households as maid. Their combined monthly earnings varies between $450 and $480 — out of which rent and food takes out around $300. At the first approach by a representative he probably rejects even the idea of insurance. He recalls many instances where poor people were cheated out of their money by unscrupulous agents in his old country. But beside that — as he usually puts it — “he cannot afford it, anyway.” Patient and honest discussion of the meaning of insurance, in his mother tongue, usually can convince him that insurance is a highly reputable trade in the United States and no conscientious man should leave his loved ones without it. Pointing out the charitable and patriotic goals and achievements of the Federation often helps to make him an insured member. In this case a minimum of $5,000 is also needed for the husband but it is wise to insure the wife separately or cover the whole family under our Family Security Plan. Let’s see what plan can they afford? First there is the Family Security Plan. One unit — $5,000 Whole Life for the husband, $2,000 for the wife, and $1,000 for each of the children — would cost $18.62 per month. If they find this amount too high, they might like another proposal whereby both the husband and wife would be covered under a $5,000 20 Year Term Insurance which would expire when they reach their normal retirement age. Monthly dues for the husband would amount to $8.34, for the wife $6.80, or a total monthly liability of $15.14. I wish to point out here that our new Reducing Term Insurance which is usually referred to as “Mortgage Insurance” might very well protect low-income families also. In the above described situation both the husband and the wife may take out $1,000 Whole Life as basic insurance and $5,000 15 Year Reducing Term paying only $7.21 for the husband’s and $6.06 for the wife’s coverage per month, or a total of $13.27. There are some people who are unwilling to take out insurance on the life of their wife or children with the strange reasoning that they would not “gamble” on the death of their closest relatives. If the head of the household turns out to be one of these peculiar fellows, any of the above described individual coverage should be recommended. In this short study we wanted to prove that insurance is an absolute must for people with low income and furthermore there are plans under which the security of the family can be protected and premium squeezed into tbc tightest budget. 11
