To All My Readers,

In in this post I’d like to share a personal story.

My Dad

His name is Ben Chua.

About April of this year 2009, my Dad passed away with cancer complications. Quietly and in a coma.

He was an old man with a lot of pride, one of the last devotees of those great Hollywood icons Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. Men don’t cry nor do men show pain.

Dad’s job was a traveling salesman. He traveled all over the states to sell industrial hardware. In those days selling hardware from store to store was the way to go. And from it he made an enormous fortune out of it. From it he settled down and opened his own store in our city.

One of the first things Mom told him was to buy life insurance. And buy they did for everyone in the family.

They bought 7 life insurance policies from SunLife and kept paying the premium for 20 years.

I remember that time distinctly because I was wondering why I had to sign a SunLife form for my parents. Little did I know…

Anyways, my parents bought another 7 policies from SunLife to keep us insured, confident that they can make the payments again.

But they didn’t.

In the mid 1990’s my parents’ little hardware business fell apart. Not in a calamitous crash, but more like slowly sinking into oblivion.

Suppliers began selling direct, his fellow sales agent buddies started selling cheaper products, customers began demanding longer terms, and supplier began asking for shorter terms. It was not the best of times for the family and should have closed sooner. But Dad’s pride wouldn’t let it and he would rather die trying.

He did everything he can, but soon fell in with bad company and BORROWED money to keep the business going.

To make a long story short, the effect of easy credit soon caught up to him and my folks were forced to stop making life insurance payments and SELL their insurance policies back to SunLife. Big mistake.

I say it was a mistake because it didn’t stop the business from sliding into oblivion AND NOW left all of us exposed and naked with NO INSURANCE.

I was too young back then to know what having no coverage meant. But if I was I would have realized how troubling it would have been.

Since SunLife premiums were too high, my parents opted for life insurance from a less well-known insurance agency at a lower coverage rate.

As for me, I don’t recall ever getting any more insurance after that till I started working on my own.

When It Rains…

Then in 1997, Dad was diagnosed with cancer on a routine checkup. When it rains it pours.

Dad used up what little life insurance paid out for medical and doctors fees. He couldn’t even afford chemo.

Fortunately, his condition stabilized and he just maintained himself with monthly injections from the doctor. By then he had no insurance coverage anymore except from family.

By late March 2009, his body built a resistance to the injections. And by mid-April, he complained of chest pains, passed out, and couldn’t be revived.

At the hospital, he was announced DOA.

A week later, we cremated him. And all the contributions given by people in his wake paid for the funeral, the mass, the food, and the everything else with enough left over for Mom to keep for years. Talk about  ironic.

Life Insurance Is Personal To Me

So whenever I think about life insurance, I think  about Dad and how it could have been better. To me, life insurance is personal.

This is why I am passionate about getting people the most affordable life insurance.

I remember the surprise my Dad felt when he got cancer and how much he had to settle for a low-class policy with inadequate coverage. It was one of those rare times Dad looked vulnerable. I hated it because I’m his son and I was too young to do anything about it.

So I’m going to do something for everyone who happens to pass by this blog.

This blog is for Dad and for all the people who want affordable life insurance. This blog’s for you.