On Wednesday, February 19, I was in my office on a Zoom call with a new client. First meeting. I stand at my desk. About 25 minutes in, I was overwhelmed with dizziness, collapsed, and passed out. Long story short, doctors found a major artery in my heart was blocked. Thankfully, I received the best medical care. I now have a stent and feel stronger than ever as my oxygen and blood are now flowing as they should.
As I was lying in the ambulance, my mind started to race. Would my family be OK without me?
The first thing that came to mind was my estate documents. I was admitted to two hospitals. One of the first things each hospital asked for was a healthcare proxy and a power of attorney, or to sign their forms. Thankfully, my affairs are in order. My wife, Laura brought both documents and handed them in. We both felt much better that the documents we had prepared with our lawyer would prevail, rather than a form generated by the hospital.
When I returned to my office a week after the frightening event, I sent these recommendations to my clients to bring to their attention some very important considerations that people often neglect, even when encouraged to pay attention. I’m sharing them here because I think they can also be helpful for you and your clients.
Recommendation #1: Don’t Overlook Estate Documents and Life Insurance
Please ensure you have updated and recently reviewed your estate documents to reflect your wishes. All too often, I hear “I’m busy,” “I haven’t got time” or “It’s not a priority right now.” It’s astounding how unbusy you become while riding in the ambulance, and how everything continues in your absence!
The next thing that came to mind was life insurance. Why, you ask? Because in the event of death, the emotional trauma for the family is bad enough. They should never have to think about finances until they are ready.
Even if you think you have enough assets and the family will be fine, these assets might often be illiquid, the prices or the market might not be how you want it to be, and so on. They may also be assets like real estate that are targeted to be owned forever. Therefore, I cannot emphasize and reemphasize the importance of receiving an immediate tax-free liquidity event at death from an insurance carrier’s balance sheet.
I have a sufficient death benefit, mostly in permanent cash value whole life insurance. I pay about $75,000 a year in premiums, which I started doing a long time ago and have added to along the way. Term insurance may look and feel cheap, but it will begin to feel very expensive as it expires between ages 55 and 65, and likely never replaced; some policyholders won’t qualify for health reasons and others won’t pay the price.
There are many forms of permanent life insurance, so I urge you to learn more about what’s available. The older you get, the more valuable it becomes. I believe that everyone, regardless of their wealth, should have permanent insurance in their plan.
People in our industry are often criticized and maligned for recommending human life value, or something as close as possible to it, when purchasing life insurance. The undertone is always that we are trying to make a commission. I can assure you that this is not the case for the vast majority of people who are protection-first advisors like me.
Remember, too, that insurability is a right, nota privilege. As you get older, your health can and probably will change. I am a perfect case in point. You can also take your health off the table by using convertible term insurance, that lets you change a term policy into a permanent policy without needing to qualify again with a health exam.
Recommendation #2: Consider Long-term Care
The next item that came to mind for me was long-term care. This was because if things didn’t go as planned, I might have needed care. Long-term care is one of the most misunderstood concepts in planning. It is both an emotional issue for the caregivers, usually family, and a financial challenge. It’s more expensive than anybody thinks and often lasts longer than expected.
I believe that self-insuring is very inefficient and potentially very expensive. This applies to everyone, irrespective of their wealth. Thankfully, the carriers have given us some great options to include robust protection inside the various insurance strategies.
About 18 months ago, a 60-year-old couple who had mature whole life policies with the strongest long-term-care protection were talked out of these policies by who I believe was an estate lawyer. I was stunned and disappointed but I’m mostly concerned that they will regret this decision should they need care.
I’m sharing this because insurance and planning decisions are multifaceted and complicated. These decisions require experts in insurance and planning, as well as taxation and all the other factors that contribute to a comprehensive macroeconomic life plan.
Recommendation #3: Be Proactive and Tune Out the Noise
When reviewing financial plans — your clients’ or your own — start with the protection portfolio. This covers everything from car and home insurance, long-term term care, estate documents, and anything else that needs to be reviewed. Please don’t put this off, as life can change in a nanosecond.
Insurance carriers provide a wide range of products that I’m certain will serve you very well based on your fact pattern and desired outcomes. Please do not let people tell you you’re getting a bad deal, especially with whole life insurance.
Recommendation #4: Check and Update Beneficiaries
When Laura and I were sitting waiting in my hospital room that Saturday, as the doctors don’t perform this procedure on weekends, I reviewed and refreshed her memory on how our financial plan works, where everything is housed, how to access it, and who to speak to for each item.
All my accounts and insurance policies have beneficiary designations. This includes regular brokerage accounts as well as bank accounts. Most people don’t realize they can add a beneficiary to bank accounts. Assigning beneficiaries is a much quicker, more efficient way to pass assets, rather than through an estate wind-up. It gives the family immediate access, which is critical. Be sure to update beneficiary assignments on all accounts after a divorce or other major life changes.
Once Laura and I had finished our discussion, we both felt much better. I was confident that everything would be just fine if things didn’t go well. The life insurance would pay off within a week or two, and Laura and our children, my other beneficiaries, would be able to access the other assets very quickly.
Thankfully, my procedure was Monday morning, and I was home at 6 pm that evening, feeling as strong as a bull. I am in awe of modern medicine and all the people who helped me — starting with the cop who arrived in the office, the ambulance personnel and paramedics, and everyone who took such great care of me through this process. This includes some of my friends who are doctors. I feel truly blessed that I was in the office with people, not in my car or at home alone.
I’m also profoundly grateful that I was sent a warning sign that was easily fixed. I was surprised that the doctor in the emergency room noticed something off in my EKG; he had nothing to compare it to. I go for a physical once or twice a year, and that office has never taken an EKG.
Recommendation #5: Please Get An EKG
It’s important to have one in your health record, so your doctors can have something to compare it to.
Thank you for reading my note and hopefully taking what I’m saying very seriously. I wish you all a spectacular 2025 and all the success in the world.
Martin F. Lowenthal, AEP®, MSIM, CLU®, ChFC®, WMCP®, RICP®, CAS®, CLTC, is a financial advisor in Needham, Mass. This article is intended for financial professional use only and not for the general public. This material is educational in nature and should not be interpreted as a recommendation or advertisement.
