Broaching Life Insurance with Elderly Parents

Life insurance can be a touchy topic to talk about with anyone since it covers such a sensitive area and can, if handled properly, lead to misunderstanding and hurt feelings. Life insurance is something, however, that should be discussed openly between family members that may be impacted by the loss of a loved one - especially between spouses. If your parents are getting older, and life insurance is not a subject you have discussed with them, you may be wondering what the best way of bringing the subject to their attention is. Your intention could be just to make sure that if one of your parents dies, the other is protected financially and has one less thing to worry about in addition to the loss of their spouse. If you feel that life insurance is something that you should discuss with your parents, there are a few pointers you can take with you to make the conversation easier to begin and manage without leading to hurt or suspicious feelings on either side.

• Keep Family Matters Private - Your parents likely come from an era where taking someone out to dinner to break bad news in public was simply unheard of. If there is the slightest chance that your parents may take offense, bringing up the idea of life insurance while at a public place may simply make matters worse. Stick to the subject in the privacy and comfort of your (or their) home rather than the local.
• There's Strength in Numbers - If you have any brothers or sisters, talk to them about your concerns first and see if they will be willing to be there for the discussion and support what you have to say. Your parents are likely to take the news better coming from more than just you if you have the support of their other loved children backing you up as well.
• Try the Casual Approach - There's nothing wrong with a child asking their parent a simple question related to insurance - even better if you couch it in a manner as if you were looking for advice from them. Your parents are used to giving you advice and that could be a great segue into discussing their own life insurance policy (or lack of one). Bring up a recent news item about life insurance if you can find it, or talk about things that affect life insurance rates for those you know, like going vegetarian.
• Stay Calm at All Times - Getting emotional or upset probably won't help the situation. If you need to talk with your older parents about an adult issue such as life insurance, you're probably best off doing it in a very adult and civilized manner.