The inadvertent sinking of the Italian cruise ship by running aground on jagged rocks on the coast of Italy, reminds us again how fragile and unpredictable is life. Apparently the Captain of the mega liner was doing a bit of “show boating,” by cruising the behemoth unnaturally near the coastline and blowing its mega horns to amuse the passengers and attract attention to the ship. Sort of like the Tom Cruise “fly by” the flight tower in Top Gun.
But hey, that was a movie for Goodness sake; this is real life with precious cargo onboard. Just a few meters away was safe deep waters versus the treacherous rocky shallows the Captain decided to navigate; unsuccessfully. The cruise line owners are apparently not sparring the Captain either; instead they’re perplexed at how little caution their Captain exercised and claim human/pilot error as causing the ships sinking.
Unlike the Titanic, where the crew had hours to get off the doomed shipped after it hit the iceberg, the passenger of Costa Concordia had less than an hour to make way to safety. Still, the similarities between the two tragedies are stunning. Both were in extremely cold water and hit an avoidable large object, each tearing long gashes in the hull below the waterline. Both ships were thought very safe, “unsinkable” and too large to fail ocean liners. How unlikely did the tourists on those ships think such a catastrophe could occur?
And such is life. Two Americans are still missing after several days from the Italian cruise liner and many more deaths are confirmed. It is events such as these that remind us to have current valid Wills and sufficient life insurance. Insurance isn’t solely for the rich or wealthy. It is extremely affordable. Semi-perm automatic renewable 20 year Term insurance in the face amount of $1 million for a 44 year old healthy male cost less than a thousand dollars per year. For females, the cost of life insurance is generally much less. As little as $50 per month can by a non-smoking healthy mom in her thirties as much $1,000,000 of term coverage.
And converting the term to permanent coverage when financial conditions improve and you can afford more per month; or when an unexpected gain from an inheritance or settlement, can be protected from rising income taxes, predators and creditors. Why couldn’t anyone simply check into the cost and availability of life insurance; regardless of one’s perceived financial condition? A few dollars a day could mean the long term difference in tens of thousands or even millions of dollars tomorrow.
Do yourself and your family a huge favor; look into getting yourself and/or your spouse more life insurance. It’s never been more affordable and there’s never been a time when it’s needed more than today. Now get out and live life while the band is still playing!
