RISCARIO INSIDER: AT AGE 7, BOOMER ESIASON LEARNED NO ONE IS GUARANTEED A TOMORROW

August 31, 2013

AT AGE 7, BOOMER ESIASON LEARNED NO ONE IS GUARANTEED A TOMORROW

“I was handed a tough life lesson at a very early age.” — Boomer Esiason

These quotations from MVP Quarterback and Sportscaster, Boomer Esiason come from various sources and re-arranged here for coherence.

“It’s easy to think that because I could throw a football, my life unfolded easily and without challenges but the road to becoming an MVP quarterback wasn’t all that easy.”

“My mom died of cancer when I was just seven years old and our family’s life changed in an instant. We lost the person who made our house a home and then all the responsibilities for supporting us financially and taking care of me and my sisters fell right there on my dad’s shoulders. I know that things would have been a lot different if my mom had life insurance.”

“If there had been life insurance, we could have hired the help my father needed to keep the household running as my mother had.”

“We lived paycheck to paycheck, but my dad was completely unselfish and did an incredible job taking care of our family. He taught me the true meaning of what it means to be a responsible dad.”

“A father’s first responsibility is to provide for and protect his family. That’s why I made getting life insurance a priority when I got drafted into the pros.”

“Just imagine if something happened to you and you hadn’t done the planning. The people you leave behind will feel the brunt of your mistakes.”

LIAM 2013

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. This year’s spokesperson is Boomer Esiason. He doesn’t bring the same poignancy as ‘Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro or the drama of basketball forward Lamar Odom who arrested for suspicion of DUI yesterday (USA Today). Boomer wasn’t in the Iron Man movies like Leslie Bibb.

Yet we once again see the lack of money made life much tougher than necessary. Same message. New messenger.

Money Lessons

Athletes earn lots but often spend lots (see 21 ways professional athletes go broke, Business Insider, Mar 2013). By his second year in the NFL, Boomer was in debt.

“You gotta have a Rolex, gotta have a car. You want to have a nice TV, nice clothes. Your girlfriend needs jewelry.”

''When you make $10 million, you don't make $10 million; you make $5 million, and part of that is going to agent fees. Ask most young athletes what their tax bill is, and I bet they don't know.”

Boomer managed to straighten out his financial life early, which is a great accomplishment. You’ll find more details in The New York Times (Apr 1998).

Special Needs

“Life insurance is about protecting the future and the people you love. That’s especially the case when you’re caring for someone with special needs.”

Boomer has a cause: fighting cystic fibrosis. His son Gunnar was diagnosed with that disease at age two in 1993. The Boomer Esiason Foundation has raised over $100 million and has a four star rating from Charity Navigator.

Got Enough?

“Boomer’s story shows that if you have people who depend on you, whether or not you’re the primary breadwinner, you need life insurance. Unfortunately, while most people agree that it is important, we are experiencing the lowest level of life insurance ownership in 50 years, and even those who have coverage have far less than experts recommend.” — Marvin Feldman, President and CEO of the LIFE Foundation

Insurance needs change. Boomer says, “As my career has grown, I’ve made sure my life insurance has grown along with it.”

In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell reminds us that poverty steals futures (see Seth Godin’s review). Since life is unpredictable, doesn’t reviewing your life insurance make sense?

Podcast 235

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PS Action beats awareness

RISCARIO INSIDER