09/03/2026
We were reviewing life insurance for a business owner today when I noticed a problem.
We started with a pretty normal business conversation.
What happens to the company if a key person doesn't show up tomorrow?
Lost revenue.
Lost relationships.
Potentially lost clients.
The cost of finding and training a replacement.
So we started designing a key person strategy.
In this particular case, we could provide $2 million of 30 year protection for the business for $2,330 per year.
Pretty compelling.
But then I asked another question.
“How much life insurance do you personally have protecting your wife and kids?”
Nothing.
Think about that.
We were discussing how to make sure the business survived his death while his family could potentially be left trying to figure out how to survive it financially.
That completely changed the conversation.
Instead of trying to make one policy solve everything, we looked at two separate problems.
The business loses a key person.
The family loses a husband, father and income.
Those aren't the same financial loss.
So why would we expect the same policy to solve both?
Our starting point became approximately:
$2 million protecting the business.
$1 million protecting the family.
$3 million of total protection for about $3,530 annually based on the illustrations we reviewed.
There was another interesting piece.
The carrier in this particular case also offers eligible member benefits that may provide additional assistance for children if both parents die, including monthly orphan support and potential college assistance, subject to eligibility and program terms.
But none of that replaces having the proper life insurance in place.
This meeting reminded me of something:
Sometimes financial planning isn't about finding a better product.
It's about asking the question nobody else asked.
If you own a business, here's one worth asking:
If you died tomorrow, is your business better protected than your family?
If you don't know the answer, that's probably worth a 30 minute conversation.