SBLI Financial Security Survey Points to Planning-Action Gap

Findings Look at Families’ Financial Readiness Mindset

WOBURN, MA – September 4, 2018 – SBLI, creator of the a unique, breakthrough Accelerated Underwriting Process, shares the survey results of its SBLI Self-Awareness Quiz, a self-test designed to help parents check their financial self-awareness.

The online quiz was made available to consumers in March 2018. To date, more than 1,200 unique individuals have completed the survey and submitted their responses, yielding some key observations.

“Our goal was to give families a way to check how well their financial security instincts and actions are aligned,” said Jim Morgan, president and chief executive officer of SBLI. “Surveying the results, we’ve found that despite best intentions, a significant number of participants’ actions haven’t always matched up with plans, leaving some families less prepared for financial challenges than they envisioned.”

SBLI Survey — Consumer Attitudes toward Family Financial Security

• 1. Most Agree It’s Important; Most Do Not Act
  (Family financial security in the event of death)
  36% have acted on a plan.
  20% have a plan, have not acted.
  27% have discussed but have no plan.
  17% have never had the conversation.
• 2. Strong, Unsubstantiated Beliefs in Readiness
  82% believe their loved ones would generally be financially protected if something were to happen to them or their spouse.
  22% have run the numbers to validate their confidence in their loved ones’ protection.
• 3. Responsible Actions Triggered by Personal Experience
  36% have developed and acted on a family financial security plan.
  • 60% (of 36%) developed and acted on a plan because of a personal experience or a conversation with a friend or loved one.

  44% have no plan to protect their family’s financial security in the event of death.
  20% have a plan but have procrastinated implementing.
  

• 4. More Thinking than Action
  3+ years is the amount of time a majority have spent thinking about creating a plan.
  54% can’t explain why they have not acted or attribute it to their busy lifestyle.
  36% don’t believe they can afford the expense.
  
• 5. Thinking About Mortality is Uncomfortable and May Cause Procrastination
  43% Uncomfortable to think about
  44% Comfortable thinking about
  14% Not sure
• 6. Majority Are Willing to Make it a Priority
  0.5-2.5% — Amount of annual household income most people (74%) are comfortable spending on life insurance

“The survey leaves no doubt that protecting their familyies financially is a top concern for the participants,” continued Morgan. “But busy lives, mortality issues and financial concerns can present hurdles. Committing to some research on plans and costs usually takes less time than they think and can help them clear those hurdles to more peace of mind.”

With questions that look at realities, misconceptions, unconscious stumbling blocks and more, the SBLI Financial Awareness Quiz lets parents get an overview of their family financial security, then see how their answers compare to those of other people who completed this brief test.

About SBLI

Conceived by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance (SBLI) was established in Massachusetts in 1907. Today, SBLI is a policy-holder-owned provider of safe, competitively priced life insurance products, currently licensed in 49 states and the District of Columbia. For more information on SBLI, visit www.sbli.com or call 1-888-GET-SBLI.