According to a new Hartford Life survey, just 29% of full-time workers making less than $50,000 said they “completely understand” life insurance. And less than two-thirds of those workers had life insurance through their employers.
The survey showed that Gen Y workers and less educated workers also showed a lower understanding along with less ownership of life insurance products. Just 30% of workers with a high school education said they completely understood life insurance, compared with almost two-thirds of workers with a college education.
These numbers are very distressing, but there is hope. In 2010, 69% of working women took advantage of employer-sponsored life insurance benefits, compared with 64% in 2009. Seventy percent of men enrolled in life insurance benefits at work in 2010, up from 67% in 2009.
While a recent LIMRA study tells us that individual ownership of life insurance is at a 50-year low, people are taking advantage of employer-offered benefit programs. This is an area where the LIFE Foundation is working diligently to increase its educational resources to assist these employees in understanding what insurance does—and not just life insurance, but disability, long-term care and in the near future, critical illness insurance.
Our mission is to educate the American consumer, and during September we are doing this through Life Insurance Awareness MonthContact me today for your Complimentary Insurance Review.
