September, always a time of reflection for me

 

Is it because it is back to school time, or Labor Day, or my brother Hank’s birthday, or the anniversary date of my business?  Nope.  It is because in my industry, September is National Life Insurance Awareness month.  For those of you who are my friends, family, and/or clients, or both, you probably get sick of me bringing up Life insurance to you.

 

I think you must know by now, it is not because I want to annoy you, sell you something, or bore you, but because I love you and care about your family.  When you have been in the insurance industry as long as I have, and yes, I know it is hard to believe it has been almost 15 years for me, you see some very sad scenarios.  I assure you, there is nothing more heart breaking to an insurance agent than having a client die with no insurance plan in place.  It doesn’t matter if it is a senior citizen leaving behind a spouse with bills they can’t pay, or a person who was too young to die, and therefore didn’t think they needed life insurance.  The heartache is the same.  A lost life is a lost life.  Financial devastation and hardship just add salt to the open wounds. 

 

I know many of you reading this think it doesn’t apply to you, but if you are really being honest with yourself, I bet it does.  I don’t want to bore you with statistics, but I will throw a couple at you:

 

• 1/3 of all adults in the US carry no Life Insurance
• 1 of 3 women have no life insurance

 

These are factoids from the following site:  www.limra.com

 

Guess what this means people?  Some of you must fall into one of those 2 statistics.  Many of you have told me over and over that you have it through work.  Good for you, but bad for your family if you lose your job or change careers and get sick or die in the interim.  Most work life insurance plans are not transferable.  This means, you don’t take it with you.  You may have an option to convert it to some type of a permanent policy, but the cost will be huge.  Plus, most likely, you don’t have enough anyway!!!

 

Think about your monthly expenses.  How long will the survivors be able to keep on top of them with whatever life insurance you have right now, today?  Some of you tell me that they can just sell the house.   Hhhhhmmmm, really?  And what if they can’t sell it right away?  What if they can’t qualify for an equity line to get immediate cash? What if you have an equity line and it is frozen?  And seriously, who are you kidding?  You want to make your family sell the house and move?  And go where?

 

So, this is why I do a lot of reflecting in September.  I want those people who may not have a voice, like your children for example, to be taken care of if something happens to you.  We will all be devastated if something does, but I can tell you with 100% certainty, if you have a strong plan in place, it will soften the blow.  Please, think about it.  Review your plan.  Take care of those who I know you love so much.  Have a happy and safe Labor Day!

Olympic Fever at the Selvitella House!

I just love the Olympics, I honestly do.  I don’t love being exhausted each and every morning because I’ve stayed up until midnight watching them, but I love ‘em!!!  I love the passion and determination of the athletes, the coaches, heck even the commentators.  That 400M swim relay, are you kidding me???  I love the water, even though swimming was never my sport, I could watch it all day.  Of course there is the Michael Phelps factor.  How many of you get as giddy as I do when he smiles that adorable smile?  Honestly though, I love watching all of the swimming, he has just brought more of a heightened awareness to the sport.  I will also say, anyone looking at a sport that can turn your body into a literal temple, this could be your silver bullet.  Do you know Michael Phelps eats 10,000 calories a day??  Yes, 10,000 and he is still lean.  Keep in mind, his average work out burns 4000 calories, but still.  Wow. 

How about the women’s gymnastics last night?  Taking the Gold and the Silver for the 1st time, ever!  So exciting.  Did you catch Bela Karoli with Bob Costas?  I think he almost knocked poor Bob off of his chair.  Or the beach volley ball with Kerry Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.  Any woman who can play a sport that requires her to run, jump and dive in the sand, all the while wearing a very skimpy bikini and still look amazing, has my utmost respect.  I even watched cycling the other night and saw an amazing American woman who struggled to make the team win the Gold.  When she hugged her husband or boyfriend at the end and broke down, I sobbed like a baby right along with her.

I would be truly remiss if I did not mention the opening ceremonies.  If you did not see this, no one will ever be able to explain to you how truly amazing and spectacular it was.  I watched it with my 3 children ages 8, 5 and 3.  I honestly did not think they would sit still for the entire spectacle as it was long.  Even the 3 year old sat transfixed.  I still cannot believe it was all done by actual people.  Truly one of the most incredible opening ceremonies I have ever seen.  I wish I could have seen it live.

So, for me I am saving the best for last.  The sport that gets all of my attention, heart, soul, tears, elation……the Women’s US Olympic Soccer team!  I am literally chomping at the bit for the 1st game.  As many of you know, soccer is a passion of mine both as a coach and as a player.  If I think I am exhausted now, it will only get worse once this starts.  I know with the new age of DVR’s I can record anything and everything, but there is something about watching it live that cannot be captured on a recording.  Plus, inevitably, whenever I tape something, a friend, a family member, or a newscaster, blows it for me and then I won’t even watch the recording.

So, here is my little suggestion for the weekend.  Grab a bowl of popcorn, grab some family member, and cuddle up to watch the Olympic Games.  Imagine what it would feel like to have that medal placed around your neck, or how those moms and dads feel seeing their children accomplish such unbelievable feats and enjoy the passion.  Who knows, it may even motivate you to get outside and try a new sport!

Cheers and have wonderful weekend!

Is summer really amost over????

So, I was sitting at my office desk this morning, going through my calendar, when alas, what did I see, it is already August 8th!  For some of you I realize, your kids are already back in school.  I would imagine you may feel a combination of things, a little melancholy, perhaps more stress as homework has started again, and many of you (don’t lie) relief!  Don’t get me wrong, I love summer just as much as the next girl, but the pressure to keep my 3 kids entertained 24/7, send them to the right camps, take them on a real vacation (see previous post on the “staycation” which my kids don’t quite buy as a real vacation yet).  Summer should be fun and relaxing, not all of this pressure!  Does anyone else remember when summer was about waking up late, playing outside all day with your friends, coming home for dinner when your parents called you in?  You would go in, quickly eat, and then go back outside and get all sweaty again playing door bell ditch and kick the can!  I have to say, I do long for those days……it makes me very nostalgic.  Now, we all start reading the countless flyers that come home in the Friday flyers touting the best run camps in what, March or April?  Not to mention having to cough that cash out up-front to “reserve your space quick before it’s too late!”  In a couple of summers I will have 3 kids who want to go to this camp and the other, OUCH!!  Even summers have become competitive!

Now, we come to the start of the new school year and all that entails.  School clothes shopping, school supplies, new backpacks, new lunch boxes, does it ever end?  When I mentioned the word relief earlier, I was referring to the feeling of normalcy and structure that comes with the end of summer.  For some of us that means driving to 2 different schools, picking up at 2 different schools, but at 3 different times, Soccer season (my personal favorite), Fall softball for my oldest daughter, continued swim lessons, taekwondo, homework, finding time for my husband, going back to working a normal schedule, throw some sleep in there, laundry, cooking dinner, making lunches, snacks, the endless barrage of birthday parties at Pump it Up and Safari Run, board meetings, coaching soccer, coaching softball………

Did I say, “relief?”  Clearly I was insane, when does summer come again????