Can you dream? About twenty to twenty-five years ago, our family was in the market for a piano. Our kids were playing piano, and it looked like they were really going to be involved. They continued to be involved so it was time to go from a simple, electronic keyboard to purchasing an actual piano. We went to our local music store, and I was thinking of a plain, upright piano; something that would be against the wall. My wife though had different ideas, better ideas because at the end of the day when the kids would move out of the house, she viewed the piano as a piece of furniture. So, she said, “what about a baby grand piano?”
Well, we looked at a few. The prices were just astronomical. We couldn’t imagine purchasing a baby grand piano. As we spoke with one of the salespeople there on the floor of the music store, he looked at me and he said “Can you dream?” Can I dream? “Yes, he said, can you dream?” He took us to another floor of the building where he showed us this beat-up baby grand piano. It was hideous. He told the story about how just a few years earlier the insides were totally redone, but this piano was a rehearsal, practice piano from a local university and unfortunately, it had graffiti on it. It was literally etched into the walnut wood and even had ‘Tyron was here’. It had been beat up and the university decided to just get rid of it. The music store was now the owner of this piano. The salesperson said that they knew someone who specialized in redoing Steinway pianos. We could have just the outside redone because the inside was gorgeous sounding. He suggested to sit down, close my eyes, and just play. I could not believe the sound, and I understood what he was talking about. Can you dream?
Why am I talking about dreaming today? It’s because I recently had this piano tuned and on the tuning bill was the name of the piano, the serial number, and the age. I realized that it was all but one of the reasons it sounded so good is because of the way it was originally built. When we bought this piano, we bought it knowing that it was going to be ripped apart and at one point in time we went to visit our piano, which was being redone. We saw the keyboard, the sound board, the bench, the top, the legs, and it was totally disassembled before it was put back together. The piano today is eighty-four years of age.
This is what I want you to be thinking about today. When you’re looking at life insurance, you’ve got to look at a product that will last the test of time. You’ve got to look at a product that has been tested literally not for decades, but for centuries. That’s what a permanent whole life insurance policy does. It has been tested. It has been tested through depressions, through recessions, and through pandemics. It has been tested time and time again. It builds value and it provides an opportunity to dream. It provides the money that you need for emergency funds. It provides the money that you need for when opportunities come your way. It provides a place for your ‘safe money’ and yes, at the end of the day, it provides an income tax-free death benefit. When you are planning your financial life, the question that I have is, close your eyes, and can you dream?
