Disability Insurance Hits Close to Home

This coming Sunday is Father’s Day – a day which we set aside to honor the men in our lives that helped raise us, took us to ball games when we were young and to R-rated movies when we grew older.  We salute the men who protected us when we were scared and scolded us when we misbehaved.  On Sunday we will celebrate the men whom we looked up to and perhaps idolized and loved.

For several of us at Petersen International, Father’s Day can be bittersweet as our dads have passed.  But the work we do every day and our constant promotion of disability insurance is in their honor.

Our founder, W. Harold Petersen was raised by his parents in rural Iowa.  His father, a dairy farmer, became afflicted with a debilitating back condition when Harold was just a boy.  The man’s inability to work left the family in dire financial straits for many years.  As a young adult, Harold became impassioned with the idea of disability insurance as he witnessed firsthand how some sort of income protection would have saved his family’s farm and alleviated the struggle they endured.  W. Harold Petersen has since successfully dedicated his life and career to the disability insurance industry.

Another colleague, Robert Clark, lost his father several years ago to a horrendous cancer that debilitated him for over 15 years.  Fortunately, Robert’s father believed in disability insurance and was able to financially support his family’s lifestyle throughout his illness.

My brother and I are also part of this story.  We lost our dad a few years ago to ALS.  He had just turned 61 years old.  Although the disease attacked his body quickly, he was disabled and unable to work for a time before his death.  Disability insurance once again saved the day, allowing our mother to maintain her household, pay her bills as well as cover the additional medical expenses not guaranteed by health insurance.

Harold, Robert, my brother and I have personally witnessed how devastating emotionally and financially the premature disablement of a main income earner can be to a family.  We know how important income protection is, and we have made certain our families would be protected if the same were to happen to any of us.  Make sure your clients do the same.

Remember all of the fathers in your life for all they do and for all they have done.  Have a great Father’s Day.