Selling life insurance during open enrollment time—that’s a double challenge. MetLife is up to the challenge, though, and has turned to gum, movies and coffee to help folks understand what a great deal life insurance is.

The insurer recently updated a 2009 study that looked at the financial security of surviving spouses one year after their loss. MetLife found that considerably more surviving spouses today report being financially strapped a year after a spouse’s death than they did in 2009.

Part of the problem is recession-related: Spousal income tended to be lower today than in 2009, so when individuals were making insurance selections based on income, they bought less—although the need for additional money is actually greater today.

But the surviving spouse was only involved in the insurance decision 49 percent of the time. Worse, only 26 percent of deceased spouses had a will at the time of death, further eroding financial resources in most cases.

So how do gum and coffee figure into the solution for this situation? MetLife converted the average cost of an insurance policy through an employer sponsored plan into terms we all can understand. For instance:

$50,000 worth of coverage = two packs of chewing gum a month ($3-$4)
$100,000 worth of coverage = two ATM monthly fees ($6-$8)
$250,000 worth of coverage = a movie ticket and box of popcorn a month ($15-$20)
$500,000 worth of coverage = a small cup of coffee each weekday morning for a month ($30-$40)

You didn’t know you spent that much on coffee during the work week, did you?

More important than calculating the cost of caffeine intake, MetLife said, is calculating what it will cost to make ends meet, should your spouse die. And these discussions need to be conducted while both parties are still above ground and sipping coffee.

“We tend to avoid talking about our own mortality, but openly discussing how we will financially protect our loved ones has only grown in importance,” says Stephen Pontecorvo, senior vice president, MetLife Group Life Products. “The solution is preemptive action, starting with a discussion with your partner and a little planning—not only about life insurance options, but also about documenting end-of-life wishes.”

Employers need to help their employees avoid being financially damaged by a spousal death by using the enrollment period to promote insurance purchases, and by offering grief and financial planning consulting services as part of the benefits package, Pontecorvo said.

Instant Insights /

Offering life insurance an important part of enrollment season

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