Empowering more American families to achieve financial security is top of mind for the life insurance industry. And the anchor for a family’s financial protection is life insurance.
I discussed the essential importance of life insurance recently with New York Life CEO Ted Mathas during a virtual Kitchen Table Conversation (KTC) hosted by Protecting Every Future, a network of diverse voices and people who believe in common sense policies that protect and strengthen the financial futures of all Americans.
During our conversation, Ted observed: “The heart of life insurance is loving somebody, and then acting upon that love to put in place protections so that if something happens to you, they’ll be taken care of.”
Those protections have never been more important. The tragic events during the past year with more than 580,000 deaths in the United States and 3.3 million worldwide due to COVID-19 have reaffirmed the fundamental value of life insurance for many consumers. 31 percent of respondents to the 2021 LIMRA-Life Happens Insurance Barometer study said COVID-19 made it more likely they will buy life insurance within the next 12 months, including 45 percent of millennials. And applications in the U.S. for life insurance policies grew 4% in 2020, the highest growth rate since 2001.
For more than 175 years life insurance companies have been taking care of policyholders and their families, through the Spanish Flu epidemic, both World Wars, the terrorist attacks on 9-11, and the 2008 financial crisis. Ted put it best: “I’m proud to be part of an industry that our business is about being there for when people need us, and they needed us in 2020. They still need us today.”
Our industry’s passion to help people take care of the things that matter the most is driving the Help Protect Our Families initiative. ACLI, LL Global and five other life insurance industry associations are partnering to support more individuals, households, and businesses in securing the financial protection they need.
And life insurance companies will continue to be there, Meeting The Moment for their customers today, tomorrow and every step of the way.
(To see more Protecting Every Future KTCs about retirement, savings and how COVID-19 is impacting Americans, go here.)
Susan K. Neely was President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), the nation’s leading trade association determined to help families live better lives by achieving financial security and certainty. As president and CEO, Neely drove public policy and advocacy on behalf of ACLI’s member companies that represent 93 percent of industry assets and serve 90 million families. She is CEO Emeritus through December, 2024.
