Stoicism is defined as “the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint. ´ But it is also a Greek school of philosophy founded by Zeno around 300 BCE, whose basic tenet is that eudaimonia (a Greek word meaning happiness) can be achieved by practicing the four virtues; prudence, justice, courage, and temperance.
So what does this have to do with life insurance? Well, Epictetus, an early Stoic, said that the chief task in life is focusing on what we can control. As you know, life insurance is designed to offset the negative financial effects of one of the things we can’t control: death.
Sure, we may be able to better our odds against an early demise by taking care of ourselves by not abusing alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or sugar. But doing so, while helpful insofar as our health is concerned, guarantees us absolutely nothing in terms of longevity. Former major league pitcher Anthony Varvaro, age 37, who became a Port Authority police officer when he retired from baseball, was killed in a car accident early Sunday morning on his way to a 9-11 memorial event. His obituary said he was a husband and father of four.
While he couldn’t control the timing of his death, one of the things he did have control over (as we all do) was the financial fate of his family should he meet an early demise. I have no idea how much life insurance Varvaro had, but for his family’s sake, I hope he had the opportunity to meet with an agent who was able to show him the wisdom of life insurance as a means of protecting his family.
Another Stoic concept is that our perception of a thing makes it good or bad; the thing itself is neutral and our perception of it is within our control. As much as I admire Stoicism and try to practice it, this is one concept I have trouble with.
To me, some things are just good or bad regardless of our perception of them. For example, shelter is good and Charles Manson was bad. I don’t understand how my perception affects that.
Our reaction to an event is another thing within our control. One can argue whether a reaction is appropriate or inappropriate, but it is difficult to argue that our reaction to an event is not within our control.
The Stoics may not have been fans of life insurance, preferring that the survivors learn how to turn adversity into triumph. Well for survivors that receive no life insurance proceeds, that’s their only option. But studies show that the death of a loved one is the most stressful event we are likely to encounter, so putting our loved ones in that position doesn’t seem to me to be the optimal solution.
Your second block of text...