CASE STUDY 3: Having insurance for life’s curveballs

Jim was in sales at a local company. He was driven to succeed and good at closing deals. As a result, he made a solid income that afforded a comfortable lakefront lifestyle for him and his wife, who took a pause from her teaching job to care for her aging parents.

While Jim’s career was taking off like a rocket, it was a personal watercraft that derailed it all. One evening near sunset, while enjoying an aquatic joy ride, Jim was distracted and collided with a boat. He suffered a serious injury and was no longer able to work. To compound the pain, he now faced a liability lawsuit.

Jim eventually succumbed to his injury and passed away, leaving his wife with a nice home but no income. She was forced to move out of the house and downsize to an apartment. The tragedy was made worse by the fact that Jim didn’t have life insurance or disability insurance to protect him and his family from the unexpected. He didn’t have umbrella insurance to protect against liability.

Had Jim and his wife been our clients, we would have recommended having both participate in a Goal Planning & Monitoring (GPM) review, where we would have addressed their needs and preferences, visualized different scenarios and projected the probability of various outcomes. This planning would have undoubtedly included the important role of insurance in helping to ensure that they wouldn’t be caught off guard or left in dire straits in the event of the unexpected.

The projections or other information generated by Goal Planning & Monitoring regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. Goal Planning & Monitoring results may vary with each use and over time. Past performance may not be indicative of future results. This hypothetical example is for illustrative purposes and is not representative of any actual experience. Individual results will vary.