Growth & Jobs | Gen Zs urged to get insurance coverage

HUGH REID, managing director of JN Life Insurance, says young adults, 18 to 28 years, who are now in the workforce, should purchase insurance as soon as possible because of the cost savings and the unpredictability of lifestyle illnesses and death.

Reid was delivering a guest lecture to final-year Mona School of Business and Management marketing students at The University of the West Indies, recently. He was presenting on the theme, ‘Reimagining Life Insurance for Gen Z Consumers’. The term ‘Gen Z’ refers to individuals born between 1997 and 2012.

The JN Life managing director said many ‘Gen Zers’, like many other adults, underrate the importance of insurance because it does not provide an immediate financial benefit. However, he advised that life insurance, especially critical illness policies, deliver immediate financial benefits by providing financial coverage against unforeseen circumstances, such as a major illness.

“Additionally, people also see life insurance as a morbid topic or a product for old people. It is also an intangible product which many young people are unable to relate,” said Reid. “What you are getting when you purchase insurance is a promise that may take decades to materialise in terms of you or your loved ones receiving a benefit if someone dies.”

BENEFITS TO PURCHASING LIFE INSURANCE

The insurance executive advised that apart from lower premiums, there were other benefits in purchasing life insurance at an early age.“If you wait until you are 40 years old to purchase insurance, you might be affected by lifestyle illnesses, such as hypertension and diabetes, which could make you uninsurable. Even if you qualify for insurance, because of the illnesses that you have, you might be required to pay higher premiums,” he revealed.

Reid said thinking of life insurance as an activity that signals impending death was old-fashioned and superstitious. “Policies are available that will assist you in accumulating wealth for major purchases, such as buying a home. You also have critical illness policies which cover illnesses, such as cancer, stroke or heart attacks which will pay out funds to you to assist with your treatment or any other purpose,” he explained.

Recounting his own battle with cancer to drive home the point, Reid shared that he was diagnosed in 2012 with cancer.

“I was able to claim on my two critical illness policies at the time. What this meant, however, is that I was no longer insurable for future critical illness policies. With the increase in the incidents of lifestyle diseases, always having a critical illness policy is important. The JN Life Aide which is a critical illness policy for individuals, provides a unique recurrence benefit, which means even if you are diagnosed with a covered critical illness such as cancer more than once, you are still able to claim on the policy and being uninsurable for future critical illness policies is no longer an issue,” he shared.

Reid also invited JN Life Sales Advisor of the Year for 2024, Deon Graveney, who accompanied him to the lecture to share her experience.

“My young daughter in your age group was afflicted with a major life-threatening illness which resulted in catastrophic medical expenses. This underscored the point Mr Reid was making that young people can be gravely ill too. Illnesses are not partial to any specific age group. You can’t see the future, so insurance is good for such a contingency.”

Reid urged the students to purchase life insurance early and emphasised that they should buy life insurance not only because they are going to die, but because the ones they love are going to live.