The word itself is unique INSURANCE and had a certain ring to it that says ' am not interested ' & ' we are being ripped off '. It's like saying water and oil. They try to mix but it just doesn't happen.
But why do fellow blacks shun the insurance aspect of life. Is it culture norms? Here I am thinking culture is dynamic thus the need to embrace insurance in our lives.
By and large blacks do not insure their property, lives and if it is it is never adequately insured. It is fact (nothing racial about it) because we are the majority so figures never lie.
One tool that is used to manage financial well being to attain sustainable financial freedom at individual household is insurance.
Insurance
The idea is to manage risk or to mitigate risk or simply put to manage unforeseen circumstances.
The concept is to restore you to the same level that you were just before the risk (‘accident ') occurred.
You have to contribute a monthly premium towards your insurance.
Assurance
Concept is to pay in money terms as at prescribed times or pay lump sum when death occurs.
You pay a monthly premium. This life insurance could cover your family or your business partners. Funeral policy that is limited to smaller cash payments (on death) and caters mainly for burial/ funeral arrangements is included as life insurance.
Indemnity Principle
The corner stone of insurance is that " the insured should not profit from a loss or damage but should be returned (as near as possible) to the same financial position that existed before the loss or damage occurred.”
In case of life assurance it’s called compensation as we can't restore life.
(For a fuller, simplified and deeper understanding of insurance, life polices, funeral policies visit our TEAM MONEY employees and don't leave until they explain to you in full and in your own culture what it means and entails. Everything is under one roof as it connects to financial freedom).
Culturally here is our take on insurance. We had too much livestock on the understanding that you wouldn't lose everything. At times you used livestock to cover other losses in other areas of our lives .That was the buffer for all adversaries. The bigger Kraal (isibaya/danga) was good enough insurance. It also helped in social contracts otherwise known as marriages; fines for misdemeanors, payments for services rendered, slaughtered when the head of the family expires and increased food security and integrity.
It was also considered generational wealth (ilifa/nhaka) and it served the purpose just fine.
We had so many wifes/children in case death visited and it was unthinkable that the whole big family could be wiped out of the face of the earth on a single go .In addition wifes/children doubled up as 'labor' to sustain the homesteads and keep away poverty.
It worked then and life was beautiful but things have since changed your Kraal is now equivalent to insurance and payment of the respective premium .Some of the livestock is now your businesses , stock market , unit trusts etc . Your Kraal concept has moved from tangible things to virtual entries with accounting value that can only be visualized.
Bigger were better then ie bigger Kraal, bigger family, bigger fields and bigger land. The concept had one flaw it was based on the male figure being the dominant and able to be the head thus do provide all there was to be needed by the family.
Insurance help you maintain your financial well being in the face of adversity. It gives shock absorbers when there are bumps on the financial freedom ride and actually it can get bumpy.
The challenge has always been the warped thinking that paying premiums without getting a return or claiming is a waste of money. But consider what you could lose if the risk occurs compared to your monthly premium. We hope we have scared you enough to start thinking insurance at least.
The pooling of premiums together and the fact that risk doesn't occur at the same time makes insurance companies offer reasonable cost to insurance. The more people pay towards insurance the lower premiums due to economies of scale.
The wise insure their lives, cars, houses, valuables because they 'never know what could happen '.
We have had people that had everything and only to lose everything at an instant of which if they had insured their value could have been restored. We can't leave everything to God or Amadlozi we need to play our earthly part despite our beliefs .Imagine if you lost your life right now at least your beneficiaries receive some financial assistance that could set them for life especially if you were the main bread winner. Their lifestyle might not change significantly just because you ceased to exist.
Imagine if you lost your house would be able to replace it given that probably you bought it over a 15 year mortgage or when that big tender happened. The sight of evicted headless and radar less families members in case of death is ugly and could be avoided if people take up insurance.
Probably your cars and valuables you could replace them but the prize you have to pay for the replacement and inconvenience compared to just if it was the insurance premium only.
After having looked at the above it only makes sense to be insurance wise and safeguard assets that have been acquired over a long period of time. As well as stabilize your dependents in case death happens because these things happen regardless of the probability of it happening being low in some instances.
Increase your financial well being get your insurance now and sleep soundly at night. Don't be stubborn or instruction proof it’s for your own good.
Let's just say it's never about you.
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IF YOU LIVE IN HARARE PLEASE KEEP THE SUNSHINE CITY CLEAN IF YOU LIVE IN ZIMBABWE PLEASE USE ELECTRICITY SPARINGLY: SOS (SWITCH OFF SWITCHES) IF YOU LIVE ON PLANET EARTH PLEASE PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT