BY FAZAAD BACCHUS
Bibi’s father owned a rice mill and every afternoon after school she would go to help her father separate the straw from the paddy. He was an older man and doted over his little girl, promised her that no harm would ever come to her. She knew how hard her father worked and vowed to study her schoolwork so that she would make him proud. She even had dreams of making so much money that her aging father could sell the rice mill and stay at home. What a shock for Bibi when at age twelve her father passed away. Her family was put into instant turmoil, creditors came knocking instantly and without knowing what hit her, Bibi was out of school and working as a domestic at age thirteen. Her father had no life insurance, but left a tremendous amount of debt. In the face of calamity we grow up fast.
We pass on to our children what we know, what we live and we have accumulated and yet for some they receive nothing. From the time some are born, they live in poverty, are ill treated and grow up to be bitter people in life, they know of nothing else. Just look around at the places where you lived in the Caribbean and you will understand that for some, there really was little future.
Today, we live in a country where that kind of poverty does not or should not exist and so the tale of Bibi does not repeat itself. We have migrated and we live in a first world country but have we changed the way we think about our children’s future and the wealth we are passing on to our next generation? If we think about it, we will pass this way once, should we not be making sacrifices for those that we will be leaving behind?
I remember a story I was told a long time. A man walked in the pool with his little son in his arms, the son fearing for his safety said “Dad you wouldn’t drop me and let me drown would you? The father replied “of course not son, I will always take care of you, I will never let you down.” By demonstration of his love for his son, he will not let him drown because he has a choice in the matter. Life is not a matter of choice but a matter of chance, we simply don’t know when our number will be called and when it does, have you done what was necessary for your family’s well being?
How many times have I heard the exclamation “my father never gave me anything and I turned out ok, so I don’t need to leave anything for anybody?’ You will be remembered for what you have done in this world and for what you have left behind, whether its assets or debts, happiness or sadness, you will be remembered for it.
Bibi remembers the debt her father left them in and vowed to repay everyone one of them; she paid the last one at sixty six years of age, more than fifty years later. What a burden to have carried for so many years and what a burden to have been lifted. Bibi has taken out a permanent life insurance so that whenever she passes away she will leave something for those that she loves and is leaving behind.
I ask you to think of your own life insurance today. Owning life insurance is not a luxury; it is a necessity for those who are dependent on you. Owning insurance is an act of love. If you love your family, call your advisor today and make sure you have the right amount of coverage.
