Many (most?) people tend to discount, or sometimes outright disbelieve, what salespeople tell them. After all, salespeople have a vested interest in the outcome, so how can they possibly be objective? (Note to self: Objectivity might be a good topic for a future newsletter). Well if salespeople can’t be relied on, who can?
Oftentimes, it is a person we know whose opinion we value and respect. We believe them to be unbiased, so we give their opinion maybe more weight than it deserves. If they give it the okay, then we might move forward.
Just as often, it is someone whom we don’t even know that tips the scales. From Edward G. Robinson to Matthew McConaughey, celebrities have been endorsing products for a long, long time. But they are obviously not unbiased, as they are (handsomely) paid for their endorsement.
But what about unpaid endorsements from trusted figures? What weight do they carry? I don’t know, but I came across some quotes on life insurance by former U.S. presidents. Give them whatever weight you deem appropriate.
Grover Cleveland: Get a policy, then hold onto it. It means self-respect. It means nobody will have to put something in a hat for you or your dependent ones if you should be snatched away from them.
Theodore Roosevelt: Life insurance increases the stability of the business world, raises its moral tone and puts a premium on the habits of thrift and saving, which are so essential to the welfare of the people as a body.
William H. Taft: All a man can do under existing circumstances to safe-guard his family is to get his life insured.
Warren G. Harding: I took out my first policy as a youth of nineteen. I have found policies a pretty heavy burden upon my resources at times, especially in my early years, but I have always found them to be very comforting possessions and if I had my life to live over, I would seek to take more rather than less.
Calvin Coolidge: There is no argument against the taking of life insurance. It is established that the protection of one’s family, or those near to him, is the one thing that’s most desired, and there is no medium of protection that is better than life insurance.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: To carry adequate life insurance is a moral obligation incumbent upon the great majority of citizens.
Harry S. Truman: I am now, and I always have been, a believer in life insurance. Even a poor man can build up an estate with life insurance. When he does create such an estate, he can feel real satisfaction in knowing that his family is protected if anything happens.
So there you have it. I am not aware that any of these men were paid to make their statement. That fact, in and of itself, must give these statements more credibility than any celebrity endorsement, no? And also more than a well-meaning friend/relative who never bought insurance, but is ever so happy to explain to you why it is a terrible deal.