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FINANCE
Do Healthy Young Docs Really Need Life Insurance?
James Dahle, MD, The White Coat Investor
Q. Money Is Tight, and We’re Young and Healthy. Do We Really Need Life Insurance?
A. Every now and then, I see an article in a newspaper or on social media about an untimely death of a previously healthy young person. Often it is cancer or trauma—nowadays, COVID-19, as well. At the end of these articles or posts, a GoFundMe account started by friends or family members to help the surviving partner and children cope with the financial ramifica- tions of the loss typically appears. These are import- ant community gestures. However, GoFundMe is not a life insurance company.
Recently, I saw a post on social media about another untimely death, with the usual link to GoFundMe. It involved a resident who died of eclampsia while giving birth. The baby survived, and the GoFundMe was to help provide for the partner and child. I suppose it is possible that even people expecting a life insurance payout would start a GoFundMe account, but I suspect that it is rare. Besides, a typical GoFundMe drive raises just a few thousand dollars, averaging $2,600. How, I worry and wonder, will the survivors make ends meet?
Aside from the personal loss of any loved one, losing the breadwinner of a family can be a cata- strophic financial event. Consider the death of a resident who stood to earn $300,000 or more per year for the next 30 years. That is a loss of $9 million in
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