You’ve probably heard the concept that we make decisions emotionally and then justify them with logic. That’s not new age mumbo jumbo talk, it’s true no matter how analytical we are. Gandhi said “Man often finds reasons in support of whatever he does or wants to do.”
Emotions affect us in a visceral way that logic cannot. Don’t believe me? Perhaps you’ve heard the story about how Steve Jobs convinced John Sculley to leave Pepsi and follow him to Apple. Sculley was a 44 year-old senior VP who many thought would one day be president, so he turned Jobs down. After all, logically, what could Apple offer him that Pepsi couldn’t?
So Jobs posed a devastatingly emotional question to Sculley: “Do you want spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” Sculley went to Apple. Who doesn’t want a chance to change the world?
Life insurance, by its very nature, is an emotional product. It deals with two of the most intense emotions, love and death, so it would make sense that emotions should play a big part of the procurement process. Instead, it is downplayed.
More and more, companies’ advertisements highlight the logical aspects of a policy. It’s not that there’s no room for logic, there is. But is much more appropriately utilized in the comparison of similar products rather than whether or not it should be purchased.
Nothing can take the place of life insurance in the arena in which it works. That is, if someone is financially dependent on you, you need life insurance, and no other financial product can take its place. How much and what type are matters open for discussion, but the need is not.
I have written previously on how to determine an appropriate amount, but this is an example of where emotion should trump logic. There is no financial formula that can determine the exact amount needed, so get close, and err on the high side. After all, you’re doing it out of love.
But death is also a motivator. Years ago, a 39 year-old client died of a brain aneurysm, and her widower strongly urged all of his friends to obtain life insurance on their spouses’. Just recently I was referred to a couple whose neighbor was killed in a car accident and her widower said he wouldn’t speak to either of them until they bought life insurance.
So it seems that we are all a lot more emotional than we may realize. And with life insurance, that’s perfectly fine. It’s one product that you don’t even need to justify its purchase with logic.
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