Breaking Bad is one of those “All Time” TV shows in my mind. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea with its dark and violent themes, however, it does offer some valuable lessons from time to time.
Clearly, lesson 1 is “Don’t cook and distribute illegal drugs” but you don’t need me to tell you that’s a bad idea. I want to highlight something else. Click here for a scene that occurs early on in the series.
What’s Walt doing here? He’s figuring out how much he needs to pay for his children’s education, pay off existing debt, and provide monthly income for the next 10 years. He even goes one step further and adjusts the college cost for inflation!
This is a perfect example of how to visualize a life insurance need.
Want to pay off your debt? Add it all up.
Want to replace the income you’re making now for a certain number of years? Look at how much you get paid per month, multiply by 12, and then the number of years you want to provide.
What else do you want? This does not have to be a difficult process.
What is difficult is coming to terms with the fact that there is a risk in the first place, and that is that you could prematurely pass away. We’re human, we don’t want to think about that, I get it. But this isn’t about you, this is about them. Don’t ask “how much should I have?” ask “how much would THEY need?”
I want to make it clear that I don’t sell life insurance or any insurance for that matter. But, as a financial planner, I see the importance and necessity of insurance at different points in your life. Simply put, insurance provides protection for events that are unexpected and have a severe financial impact.
The events of Breaking Bad could’ve been avoided if Walter had bought some term life insurance before he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Hindsight’s 20/20. But something tells me it wouldn’t have gone on to win numerous Emmys with that plot.