huanix

I was listening to Morning Edition on my local NPR station (90.3 WPLN) this morning when I heard something about a man who had made a bet that he wouldn’t live to be 100 (?) years old - well, the man lived and collected on the bet.

This made a lightbulb go off in my head that people should not only carry death insurance (what we currently refer to as “life insurance”) they might also carry a type of life or living insurance. The idea is that an individual establishes a policy that matures around the time they logically expect to die (and would have exhausted their retirement), let’s say 78 years. If the person lives to 78 years, they receive a payoff consistent with their premiums and have the opportunity to enjoy the reward (A person might collect less than 100% of their premium because they had a low chance of dying before 78). Of course, most people plan to live to 78; let’s say you set the policy to kick in if you live to 90 - the pay off could be much higher because the insurance firm has a much lower likelihood of actually having to pay up, so in theory, you could have a relatively inexpensive policy with a higher return in the eventuality you live longer than your bank account antipatd.

From a mental health perspective, this could improve the mental health and quality of life of older people who might receive a big payoff for living to centurian status. One of the greatest problems of the elderly is a sense of worthlessness and non-productivity, this type of policy would mean that simply being alive is reaching a goal.

I went on a field trip with the gifted class today and told a student about the idea. He was only slightly amused, and after thinking about it, he said, “I wonder if someone might make a living working for that insurance company to be sure there was a low collection rate.” As I sat stunned, I realize that it’s a distinct possibility in the world we live in.