Life insurance low on millennials’ priority list
September 28, 2017 by KATIE KUEHNER-HEBERT
Millennials may want to marry, buy a house and have kids, but most aren’t thinking about buying life insurance in case they die prematurely and saddle their family with a mortgage and other bills – including their student debt, so says an Anthem survey.
The survey, conducted via YouGov, collected data from 905 U.S. adults who work at a company with at least two employees. Just over a third (39 percent) of millennials say it is important for an employer to offer life insurance – even though other research shows that 70 percent want to get married, 74 percent want to have a family, and 93 percent want to own a home.
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Millennials as a group are already saddled with the highest level of student debt of any generation – and Anthem wants them to realize that without life insurance, they could be sticking their family with that debt and other bills if they die sooner than they think.
“Millennials may be underestimating the security that life insurance offers them,” says Nick Brecker, president of Specialty Business at Anthem. “This benefit is a key way to protect the homes and families of their future. In the best case, life insurance offers absolute peace of mind for a family. In the event of tragedy, it ensures that no more debt is heaped on loved ones.”
The carrier does give millennials the benefit of the doubt by saying it is possible that they simply don’t really understand the product. Indeed, the survey found that half (53 percent) of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 say they understand the coverage and benefits provided by the life insurance plan offered by their employer, compared to 69 percent of respondents 55 and older who say they get how the product works.
Anthem says it would “behoove” both employers and insurance brokers to educate their millennial workforces on the benefits of life insurance and its role in a comprehensive integrated health care package.
“Millennials have great hopes for the future, and it’s imperative that they consider tools like life insurance to protect that future,” says Tracie Foster, director, product and business development at Anthem. “Employers and insurance brokers can play a major role in helping their employees understand that for less than a cup of coffee a day, millennials can protect the homes and families they’ve planned.”
Anthem realizes that young healthy adults on the first rung of their career ladders — with the idea of a family and a mortgage just a gleam in their eye — might dismiss the cost of life insurance. But Anthem admonishes that thinking, saying it is for all those reasons that they should utilize life insurance as a long-term financial planning tool — not just for them, but for the families of their futures.
