Most Americans would prefer a dinner discussion about the zombie apocalypse over life insurance, a new survey finds.

In fact, there’s a lot of stuff people would rather discuss than their plans (or lack thereof) to ensure their loved one’s financial security in the event of their death.

The survey by Penn Mutual asked roughly 800 Americans to rank 19 potential dinner table subjects in terms of appropriateness.

The subjects that the largest percentages of people ranked in their top four subjects at dinner are the following:

- What would you do if you won the lottery? (80 percent).

- What super power do you wish you had? (73 percent).

- The worst date you’ve ever been on (53 percent).

- How your family would survive in the event of a zombie apocalypse? (44 percent).

- Religion (42 percent).

- Politics (41 percent).

The subjects most likely to be picked for the bottom four are the following:

- Bodily functions (59 percent).

- Horrible ways to die (57 percent).

- Serial killers (51 percent).

- Your salary (43 percent).

- An upcoming medical procedure (40 percent).

- What you want to happen to your body after you die (38 percent).

- How much life insurance you have (39 percent).

While few of those subjects were put in the bottom four by a majority of respondents, all of them were put in the bottom eight by large majorities. Life insurance was in the bottom eight for 81 percent, for instance.

People’s reluctance to discuss end-of-life planning has emerged as a serious concern in health care. Experts are increasingly calling for doctors to speak frankly with patients about how they want to spend their final months, weeks and days as well as how and where they want to die.

Planning, contend experts, will allow more people to spend the twilight of their life in comfort and peace. Examples of planning include advance directives about what types of interventions doctors should undertake in various medical crises, such as a coma that the patient is not expected to awake from.

But such planning inevitably leads to controversy. Family members often don’t want to hear their loved one talk to them about do not resuscitate orders and a Medicare policy that encouraged doctors to discuss end-of-life options with patients.

Life insurance is a similarly uncomfortable conversation for many people, but it is one that is critical for families to have, said Jeff Fleischman, Penn Mutual's chief marketing officer, in a statement.

“Last year we asked consumers what they would rather do than talk about life insurance. We received some hilarious responses, 'Would You Rather,' but it helped people realize that talking about life insurance is not as difficult or as painful as some perceive it to be,” he said. “This year we wanted to go a step farther and focus on family discussions and motivate people to have these important conversations before it’s too late.”

Instant Insights /

Why talk about life insurance when you can talk about zombies?

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