Three quarters of Americans believe life insurance coverage represents acritical piece of financial security. Two-thirds say it deliverspeace of mind. One third tell themselves they ought to be investingmore in life insurance.

Yet only 49 percent actually have a life insurance policy.

These are the key takeaways from a survey of more than 2,000U.S. adults paid for by Lincoln Financial and executed by WhitmanInsight Strategies. Dubbed the MOOD poll—for Measuring Optimism,Outlook, and Direction—the survey team concluded that, while peoplerecognize life insurance’s value, it is still not on their dailylist of must-do action items.

“Clearly Americans see the importance of life insurance,yet it’s often viewed as a longer term safety net, and thereforenot always considered on the list of day-to-day financialpriorities,” said Mark Konen, president, Insurance and RetirementSolutions, Lincoln Financial Group.

Delving deeper into the survey results, here are sometidbits:

• 35 percent of consumers believe life insurance providesimmediate benefits;

• Life insurance owners are significantly more likely thannon-owners (75 percent vs. 64 percent) to feel “in control”;

• Consumers spend only 1 percent of their monthly household budgeton life insurance while spending nearly 3.5 times as much onentertainment and restaurants;

• 41 percent of millennials and 37 percent of Gen Xers think theyshould be putting more money towards life insurance;

• Of those who own life insurance policies, 51 percent purchasedthem through an agent/advisor, 32 percent through their work, and 17 percent gotit through both.