Widows Confront Years of Hardship Without Life Insurance, according to survey

Henry Benjamin, who has served as an Allstate Insurance Agent for 31 years, said it is crucial that men, especially young African American males apply for life insurance so that if they die, their wives and children will still be able to maintain the same lifestyles as before. Photo courtesy of Henry Benjamin, Allstate Insurance Agent
Henry Benjamin, who has served as an Allstate Insurance Agent for 31 years, said it is crucial that men, especially young African American males apply for life insurance so that if they die, their wives and children will still be able to maintain the same lifestyles as before. Photo courtesy of Henry Benjamin, Allstate Insurance Agent

Widows Confront Years of Hardship Without Life Insurance, according to survey

Christopher Shuttlesworth

Families face loss of loved ones everyday, but sometimes the extended tragedy happens after the person dies.

According to a 2014 New York Life survey, 77 percent of women

reported feeling secure about their finances before the death of their spouse, but they were faced with a very different picture afterwards.

The 2014 New York Life survey reported that “68 percent of women

experienced significant life changes after the death of their spouse with

financial concerns at the top of the list, and 59 percent of women

said they didn’t have enough life insurance in place to feel financially

secure.”

Henry Benjamin, who has served as an Allstate Insurance Agent for 31

years, said what most people do not understand is that when the death of

the male spouse takes place, women not only lose their best friend, but

they also lose half of the income.

“When you look at the hardship that women face after the spouse

is deceased, it’s unbelievable,” Benjamin said. “When you look at it in terms of the numbers, the woman has to find another husband, reduce her lifestyle, move from the neighborhood that she loves or the worse, which is move back with her kids.” That is what happens when a person doesn’t buy life insurance,” he said.

Benjamin added no one knows who is going to die first between the male and the female or the wife and the husband, but statistics show women live longer than men.

“You should want to protect your family by buying life insurance

so when you’re no longer there, your family is protected,” Benjamin added.

He continued to say if a family is blessed enough to buy a home, but is forced to give it back to the bank after their significant other passes away,

then they are missing the boat.

“We want to be in the position to buy the house, but at the same

time, plan so in the event of the unforeseen, the family can stay in the

school environment and the particular neighborhood just by buying life

insurance,” Benjamin said. “This is something the African American

communities just haven’t gravitated to.”

He said there are various reasons why African Americans continue to

lack quality life insurance, but the main reason is their lack of education. “Number one is a lack of education,” Benjamin said. “They also don’t have

the economical means and we haven’t been taught from a family perspective.

Our parents should turn around and help us [during] the planning stage. So, I think from the home environment... if we turned around at the dinner table and begin to discuss these things, then when you get to home ownership you’re going to make sure during an unforeseen incident, your wife and children will still be able to maintain that same standard of living.”

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