Bermuda just survived another disaster, by the skin of our teeth or the sharpness of our coral reefs. Whatever the reason, the collective we has lived to tell the tale another day.

But, can we say the same for our personal selves, I wonder?

How many of you actually checked the insurance replacement value of your home before this storm. It would feel very good to know if more than 80 percent of you did, but statistically we know that won't be the case. Some homes are certainly underinsured, given the cost to replace them even in today's competitive construction industry; some homes have no insurance, at all. Yes, life is a gamble, and some do thrive on measuring the odds. Again, this time we were lucky.

Insuring against the risk of losing your property is not the only thing that you should be planning for. There is your life, your life, precious to all of your family, and friends. Your life means emotional ties, cultural contributions, your life long financial earning power, your capability for greatness. When a life is cut short prematurely, your survivors suffer: financially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The chore (during the grief) of moving on is significantly harder when there are little financial resources.

According to a new LIMRA** study (www.limra.com) released just a few weeks ago, four in 10 US households with children would have immediate trouble paying bills if the primary breadwinner died today. In fact, ownership of individual life insurance policies is at a 50-year low. More than 30 percent of US households have no life insurance at all. Families surveyed understood the need for more life insurance, and place real value on the protection life insurance provides, but their priorities are different during this difficult time.

Are the statistics the same in Bermuda? Possibly, local insurers have statistics for their own products, but may not track the market as a whole.

Insurance is meaningless when other contexts interfere. It is easy to understand what happens. Individuals and couples are made redundant due to the effects of a poor business environment, cost restructuring, and a poor economy. Forgotten in the rush to find another position, or to eke out a few more months on a former employer health insurance plan, is that many employers have carried their employees on group benefit life insurance policies. Lose the job; lose the benefit. Regrettably, many working individuals have no other life insurance coverage, nor are they able to pick up a policy while unemployed.

Other individuals purchased individual whole of life policies (outside of company group benefits) when their personal finances were flush, their career prospects rising. Whole life policies work on a straight premium charge calculated over the life of the policy. The cost annually is higher than an inexpensive term life insurance policy, but whole life are designed for a different reason, one of which is that coverage remains in effect from year to year (provided you pay the bill). Some folks, who later in life have found that they are uninsurable, and have kept their whole life policies, still have coverage.

It becomes a terrible dilemma, when finances get tight, and immediate concerns such as rent, and putting food on the table take precedence, any extra bill is a bill that is unaffordable. Yet, this is precisely the time that life insurance is most needed. It is particularly urgent that single parents carry life insurance, and, by the way, both parents in a family should also be insured.

What can you do if you think you may be made redundant and are in danger of losing your life insurance policies? Contact your employer's human resource manager to see if you can carry the group term life insurance as a personal policy when you leave your position.

Contact your insurance representative if you own a policy personally, and are facing difficulty. They are knowledgeable and experienced.

They may work with you on alternatives to help you keep this most valuable protection. At least, explore all options - don't just let the insurance policy lapse!

And, please! If you can afford life insurance protection and you just haven't gotten around to it. Do it now!

Call me up - I do not sell life or investment products, but I can recite horrific stories of families who had no fallback coverage at all, if you need convincing.

Insurance is for when you can't cope. "Every day in life is a challenge", according to one of the judges at the People'sCourt; it is how you handle those challenges that distinguishes you from everyone else.

No matter how strong you may be, both mentally and physically, you may have a crisis in your life that is overwhelming. That is when insurance earns it keep.

Martha Harris Myron, CPA, CFP (US) TEP(UK) JP - Bermuda is an international Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner in private wealth management. She specialises in independent fee-only cross border investment, tax, estate, and strategic retirement planning services for Bermuda residents with cross-border and multi-national connections, internationally mobile people and US citizens living abroad. For more information, contact martha.myron@gmail.com">martha.myron@gmail.com or 296 3528.