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American Morning
Americans Seem to be Spending More Time Thinking About Tomorrow
Aired December 10, 2001 - 07:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. In the nearly three months since September 11th, Americans seem to be spending more time thinking about tomorrow. But according to one insurance industry source, 1.4 million life insurance applications were filed last month. That is up nine percent from a year earlier and 26 percent from September. The numbers in New York City are even higher. The study says policies at the Massachusetts Mutual Financial Group in October jumped 30 to 45 percent from last year.
And joining us now are Seth Frank, one of the many New York City residents who opted to increase his protection. Good morning Seth, and from Massachusetts this morning - Springfield, Matt Winter, an executive with MassMutual. Good morning to you as well.
MATT WINTER, MASSMUTUAL FINANCIAL GROUP: Good morning Paula.
ZAHN: All right, Matt describe to us the level of interest you've seen in families wanting to get either life insurance for the first time or to increase existing policies.
WINTER: Sure. Well we've seen an increase nationwide as a result of the tragedy on 9-11. I think it had an effect of making people much more aware of the need of getting their financial needs in order, taking care of their loved ones, and just the whole fragility of one's own life and the potential for mortality to occur much earlier than most people would expect. And we've seen that much more dramatically in the New York metropolitan area, I think as a result of how much more tangible it is in the New York area. It's hard to find somebody in New York who wasn't personally affected by the tragedy on September 11th.
ZAHN: So Seth, you had a life insurance policy before - is that correct?
SETH FRANK, LIFE INSURANCE POLICYHOLDER: Yes I did. Yes I had ...
ZAHN: And you after - yes, and then after September 11th, you went to your agent and said I want to increase my policy.
FRANK: Yes that's correct. As the gentleman spoke earlier, you know in New York there's an immediacy and an urgency, I think, that creates everybody in New York to want to think about their mortality and for me that was the case, and I met with my insurance agent and bought a mixture of two different types of insurance.
ZAHN: Now I don't want to get, you know, invade your privacy here, but what were the major changes you made post September 11th?
FRANK: The two changes that I made were I looked at the types of insurance available and I bought a mix of term insurance for a couple of hundred thousand dollars and a whole life policy. I'm not an insurance expert, but it appeared to me that term insurance gave me a low-cost for a shorter term period and the whole life insurance gave me - it was more costly, but would extend throughout my entire life. And you know, being that we're in New York, traveling through Penn Station and Grand Central and the - I guess the mass of people that are in New York, I think causes you to rethink how vulnerable you are in New York City.
ZAHN: And unfortunately Seth, I think that's the same vulnerability every American feels when our government repeatedly warns us of unspecified attacks on specified targets. Matt, if you would, walk us through some of these options that Seth just talked about, because it would - it would seem from everything I've read financial planners at first recommends term insurance.
WINTER: Well I think that's somewhat of an over simplification. I think Paula that there are a variety types of life insurance and certainly term insurance, which protects you for a specific period of time, as Seth referred to, there's also universal life, variable universal life, whole life, as Seth indicated, he purchased, and they all have specific needs and they're all beneficial for people in particular circumstances. So it's very hard to generalize and decide that one particular type of policy is necessarily better for everybody.
I think what Mr. Frank did was the right thing, which was to meet with his financial adviser, talk about the types, talk about his particular needs, and determine the best combination of insurance that met those needs and is financially affordable for him.
ZAHN: Seth, you mentioned obviously the - I guess the intimidation some New Yorkers feel when they pass through tunnels, when they go by Penn Station, whey they go by any large public building. In closing this morning, describe to us the level of comfort that your increased insurance protection has given your family. Is that something that you talked about a lot with your wife?
FRANK: Yes, of course, and I'm finding it throughout a lot of my friends as well. Being that many of us work in New York City, we travel on business. As you mentioned, everyone in the country, I think, is more nervous today than ever, and it has to do with business travel, you know, personal travel.
You know, for myself I travel through Penn Station and I'll be at Grand Central, then I'll be down at the World Trade Center and all of these are in the World Trade Center area, and all of those locations, you know, have a mass of people that move through there everyday and I think by having this more secured insurance that I've purchased, giving me more benefits if I were to be involved in some terrorist activity, makes me more secure for my family and for my children.
ZAHN: All right, well Seth Frank, we appreciate your sharing a little bit of your family life with us this morning and Matt Winter, thank you for your professional advice this morning.
WINTER: Thank you.
ZAHN: Glad to have both of you with us. Take care.
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