Why do you want money?
In his international best seller “You Were Born Rich” success guru Bob Proctor makes the following point:
“Now one of the principal reasons for wanting the amount of money you desire is to provide for your family, and not just in an adequate manner. After all, you want them to live life to its fullest. Realize, therefore, that as long as you live and are able to follow the plan outlined in this book, you will be able to do so as you want with respect to your family. However, if you really stop and think about it, you will very likely agree that you would want your family to live “the good life”, even if you were suddenly removed from the picture – wouldn’t you? Jokingly you might say, “No, who cares if I’m gone.” But this is not a joking matter. This is a very serious matter. Of course you care – I know it and so do you!”
“Now, if you’re alive and healthy, you will create this wealth for your estate. But what if you die or are permanently disabled? Well, our society has taken care of that situation as well; we have “Life Insurance” and we have “Disability Insurance.”
“Understand this – there is no way to replace your income and create a certain and instant estate other than life insurance; and statistics indicate that although most people are insured, the vast majority of people (at least 90%), are dangerously underinsured. That is to say, when they die, most people leave behind only enough money to for their funeral and possibly enough money to cover their family’s living expenses for one year! The unfortunate part is that for a relatively small sum of money, these people could have had their financial affairs set up in such a way that if something did happen to them, their financial goals would be reached by their families automatically.” [1]
What is significant about Bob Proctor stressing the importance of enabling your family to reach their financial goals automatically in the event of your tragic demise? To answer this question, we need to know a little more about Bob Proctor.
Mr. Proctor is the heir to the modern science of success stretching back to Andrew Carnegie. As described in another extremely influential book about personal achievement, “Think and Grow Rich”, Mr. Carnegie was the great financier and philanthropist who not only made himself a multi-millionaire but also made millionaires of more than a score of other men. He disclosed his formula for personal achievement to Napoleon Hill, who went on to interview 500 other wealthy men in a quest for the source of their riches. “Think and Grow Rich” is the product of that research.[2]
Then, as described further in “You Were Born Rich”, Napoleon Hill passed the baton to Earl Nightingale of the famous Nightingale-Conant personal development company. Mr. Proctor learned with the coaches at Nightingale-Conant and has become the curator of the science of success industry. [3]
So here we have the ranking elder of the success industry proclaiming life insurance as an essential ingredient to fulfilling your dreams. What an amazing idea! It is so gratifying to see that those champions of success think beyond themselves. They understand that very successful people do not become so successful exclusively through their own efforts, nor do they become successful for the benefit of themselves only. They achieve great results – including great wealth – of, by, and for others. Closest to them are typically their family members, and concerns for the broader community and society branch out from there.
From that point of view, it makes perfect sense that life insurance would be the foundation of their financial portfolio. The show must go on without them, be that the prosperity of their loved ones, or the viability of communal or charitable institutions, or the vitality of the businesses they have built.
That is why they want money. Why do you?
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[1] Bob Proctor, You Were Born Rich (Scottsdale, AZ: LifeSuccess Production, 1984) pp. 33-34
[2] Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich (Northbrook, IL: Random House Publishing Group, 1987) p. v
[3] Op. cit, Proctor, p. ii