A policy that always pays up

Like taxes, death is one of life's two certainties and doesn't always come with old age. According to data often quoted by the life insurance industry, one in five men and one in eight women over the age of 30 will die before they reach 65. Breadwinners who don't take out life insurance often condemn their dependants to poverty if they die unexpectedly.

Yet only 40 per cent of households pay into life insurance, Statistics New Zealand says. That's half the number that need it, adds the Financial Planners & Insurance Advisers Association (FPIA).

You'd think that given the certainty of a payout and the consequences of dying without life insurance if you've got dependants, more people would buy it. However, figures from the Investment Savings and Insurance Association suggest that insurance advisers are finding it increasingly difficult to get people to sign on the dotted line. One reason is that few of us want to face the fact that we're mortal.

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