Insurance

I met a young couple recently on their third “financial adviser.” This one sold them a flexible premium variable life insurance plan. Insurance agents are held to a “suitability” standard, but this case pushes the limits of my definition of suitability.

Insurance is designed to transfer risk from the individual to the insurance company.

I’d like to begin with a show of hands: all those who enjoy reading their insurance policies, please raise your hands now. Hmmm, I don’t see very many and I must admit that if this was a Zoom call, you wouldn’t see mine either. However, insurance is part of our lives so it’s important that those who buy it either understand it or have trusted advice at hand.

You probably remember the old story. A child asks his mom why they always trim the end of a ham before putting it in the oven to bake. She replies that she’s not sure and suggests they call grandma from whom she got the recipe.

Actor Tom Cruise has famously played a fighter pilot, a sports agent and a secret agent but his first starring role was as a budding entrepreneur in the 1983 film which supplies the title of today’s article.

I’d like to begin with a shout-out to French pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupery who has entertained readers from youth through adulthood with his books The Little Prince and Night Flight. He was also a poet and creator of memorable phrases including the one I’ve borrowed for today’s title.