The other day I got one of those cutesy emails filled with amusing ?children say the darndest things? stories. Here?s how this one went:
One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class. She came to the part where Chicken Little warns the Farmer. She read, ??and Chicken Little went up to the Farmer and said ?the sky is falling, the sky is falling?!? The teacher than asked the class ?And what do you think the Farmer said?? One little girl raised her hand, ?I think he said, ?Holy Sh*t! A talking chicken!??
After decades of discussing ?risk? with prospects, clients, family and friends it ceases to amaze me of how oblivious most of them are to real risks they face. Yes they will get sick. Many will suffer a disability sometime before age 65. If one lives long enough they are likely to need long-term care. And yes they will die. Yet, and I know I?m going to offend someone here; they?d rather wring their hands about global warming or watch 24/7 coverage of Brittany Spear?s last meltdown, than rationally plan for the probable eventualities that they face.
So I, like many of you I?m sure, often feel like a talking chicken as opposed to a rational and informed harbinger of sound long-term care planning. And yes, my level of patience with the long list of head fakes and excuses as to why folks can?t or don?t want to purchase long-term care insurance (of course until they can?t qualify for it any longer) grows shorter by the day. However, I?m sure that medical doctors grow frustrated with their overweight patients who don?t go on a diet and financial advisors struggle with clients who refuse to save for the retirement that they say they want. So we soldier on with the message in hopes that the light will go on for more and more people.
With this in mind, my next few Blog postings will be devoted to findings from two very important studies that were recently released; The AHIP/Life Plans 15-Year Study of Buyers and Non-Buyers of Long-Term Care Insurance and The CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Researcher Report on Aging Boomers. We plan to post these and other reports on our website soon, www.bjfim.com, however, if you would like me to email these to you let me know at, barry@paradigmins.com.
Now it is true that Chicken Little mistook an acorn falling on her head for the sky actually falling. But she did at the end of the story decide to carry an umbrella, given to her by the king, to avoid the risk of getting knocked in the head by an oversized seed. But at least she didn?t have to worry about the sky falling anymore. So be a king; go sell your clients a long-term care insurance umbrella because there?s an acorn the size of an oak tree headed their way!