Legacies of love

Life insurance can help show you care – even after you die.

Ever wondered what life would be like without you? Unless you’ve seen a glimpse of the world without you, like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, you may never know.

Whether you realize it or not, during your life you make a meaningful difference in the lives of your loved ones and your community. Life insurance can help you make a meaningful difference after you’re gone.

Leaving a legacy

"Many people begin to think about their legacies as they enter middle age," says Bill Roderick, conservation associate for Modern Woodmen. "As we face our own mortality, we discover being remembered as someone who had money isn't enough. Most people would rather be remembered for the things they cared about in life."

Leaving some of the wealth you've accumulated to these people and things allows them to continue their mission long after you’re gone. Life insurance can provide a substantial legacy for the benefit of family, friends, churches, alma maters and other community activities in which you’re involved.

For the future

Life insurance can also help protect your loved ones from potentially devastating consequences of unwanted taxation and uncertain futures. Roderick knows from personal experience with his grandfather’s family farm how important it can be to plan your legacy.

His grandfather failed to execute a proper will and did no succession planning. This left a family in turmoil when his grandfather died, with no choice but to sell assets to meet obligations. Roderick still keeps a copy of the farm auction notice. "It was a terrible thing to watch assets being sold for pennies on the dollar," he remembers.

But financial troubles weren't the most difficult legacy Roderick’s grandfather left. "The fight over how to handle the succession of the farm ended up in court with siblings pitted against each other, filled with much anger and anguish, and a legacy of over 20 years of the three siblings not speaking to one another," he says. "If my grandfather had sat down with competent professionals to do some real planning, I don't truly believe this is the vision he would have had for his family.

"That’s what our legacy is about," continues Roderick. "It’s about acting now to see the things we care about in life are taken care of when we’re gone." According to Roderick, life insurance is one of the best ways to enhance our legacy. When properly structured, life insurance can help guarantee we share our accumulated wealth with those we care about most – our family, our friends and our community.

After you’re gone, only your legacy will remain. Help it be as wonderful as the life you live.

Want to leave a legacy?

Modern Woodmen offers a variety of life insurance plans to help you leave a lasting legacy -- including permanent life insurance.

Only permanent life insurance provides all of these benefits:

• It creates an immediate inheritance for your loved ones.
• It pays a death benefit to your beneficiary without delay -- free of income taxes and delays caused by probate and estate administration.
• It gives you an account value that can grow over time.