Financially Prepared for the Unpredictable: Cancer and the Importance of Life Insurance

The very word cancer strikes a whole set of emotions for anyone who hears it. For so many of us over the age of 30, cancer is often tied to images of very sickly looking people hooked up to all sorts of IV tubes and machines waiting for their time to end. Many of us picture that relative of ours who was diagnosed too late or the treatments didn't work, and so we watch as our loved one suffers all the way to their inevitable demise. Cancer strikes fear, anger, sadness and pity in many who hear the word.

The reality of cancer is quite different in the 2020s. Childhood cancer survival rates now hover in the 85% range compared to about 58% in the mid 1970s. Some cancers, if caught at stage 1 or 2 can have survival rates upwards of 90% or more! The amount of resources that have been thrown at curing cancer is staggering when one sees the advanced therapies and technologies that are now at our disposal.

However, this post is not about all the technologies or treatments for cancer. It's not even about the emotional roller-coaster ride that cancer patients and their families experience. No, this conversation is about being financially prepared for a potentially catastrophic medical diagnosis and my personal story surrounding this.

In late 2022, I was diagnosed with, at first, stage 3 rectal cancer which after seeking a secondary opinion and more advanced diagnosis, was re-classified to stage 2 rectal cancer. I won't go into all of the nuances of what makes one classification a stage 2 or stage 3, just know that after being able to seek out medical help from one of the world's leading cancer centres, more detailed scans showed that though my condition was serious, it was not as daunting as originally thought.

Now getting a cancer staged does not happen overnight. You have to wait weeks sometimes to get access to an MRI or ultrasound. And though we may only be talking 14 days, there is a lot that goes through your head in that time. You question every decision you made regarding your health. You fear just how catastrophic this could be. And in my case, I worried about my very young children growing up without a father and the pressure that my wife would be under to deal with the grief of two small children while handling her own emotions and keeping life together.

The one thing I did not worry about was finances. This is not because I'm some rich guy where money isn't an issue, it was because years ago I took the proper steps to protect my family. I had a will in place and most importantly I had life insurance. Even if I had a fatal diagnosis, I was not stressed about how my family was going to survive financially.

It is incredibly irresponsible not to carry life insurance to protect your family. Life insurance does not cost much when you are young, you can lock in flat rates for all sorts of timelines, and if you die when your family depends on your income or services then there is no stress on your family as to how they will survive. $500 a year or less can be the difference of your family carrying on in the house and lifestyle they are accustomed to or them selling everything they own and doing a fundraiser for your funeral costs.

I implore everyone, if you have people that depend on you financially, you must go and get life insurance immediately! If cost is an issue, go get simple term life insurance. If you have extra money and are looking at different wealth building tools, do you research and consider other life insurance vehicles. The point is, get something that will be about 10-14 times your annual income so that your family is protected. Believe you me, from my experience, I do not know how well I would have coped in fighting and ultimately arriving at a cure to my cancer if I had been stressed over my family's financials.