When it’s a Leap Year, do you think about the mathematical calculations that go into our calendar? We have had this calendar for literally thousands of years. Mathematicians going back millennia have been figuring out how to use our calendar so we can show up at the right time on the right date and it all works smoothly, except it actually doesn’t. There is an imperfection in our calendar. Every four years, we have to recalibrate because the other years are off by 6 hours. So, after four years, we’re off a total of 24 hours, and a day is added back on to get our calendar back in sync. This made me think about keeping things ‘in sync’. How many things in your life are just on autopilot and you just assume that everything is fine?
If everything was fine, you would never, ever change the value of your homeowner's insurance. However, if you stay in the same home for several years, you will see the value of your home continue to increase. That is because the replacement value of your home is greater today than it was in the past. It will take more money to replace your home. The same goes for automobiles. I remember my first car was maybe worth a couple of grand. However, every year the cost of a new vehicle increases, and this year the average brand-new car is $40,000. If you’re looking at a brand-new pickup truck, we won’t even go there. I can’t even imagine where they get these new values, but it obviously must work because somebody is buying them and the car and truck values continue to increase.
Let me talk about how this is the same with the life insurance asset. Are you making more money today than when you first began your career? If you said yes, don’t you need to recalibrate the coverage of your life? You’re now living on more. You’re now enjoying more things. What if you always made what you always have made? Would you be unhappy if you were in the same boat today, making the same amount that you were making 20 years ago? I wouldn’t think so.
Just like homeowner’s insurance goes up and automobile values go up, your human life value also increases. Your human life value is something that I discuss in my book Investments Don’t Hug: Embracing the Life Insurance Asset. Your human life value needs to be recalibrated. Perhaps this is the perfect day to get this done because even our calendar is being recalibrated on Leap Day of Leap Year. If our calendar wasn’t recalibrated for a long period, we would probably end up celebrating spring in November because the calendar would be off so far.
So, I’m giving you two jobs today. First, purchase my book on Amazon (Kindle or Paperback) or at Barnes and Noble. If you would rather listen, you can purchase it through iTunes or Audible. I wrote this book with 35 years of experience, with tears, and with passion. Second, after you have read it, then you need to sit down with our team and recalibrate your human life value because your life has a value not only when you leave this planet and take the dirt map, but while you are still here. You can use that human life value as leverage to create a bigger and better life than you ever dreamed was possible. Do this not for me, but for yourself today on this Leap Day.
