Life & about taking risks

The reason why dare-devilry of the kind that Moscow-based model-photographer Angela Nikolau practices (including taking selfies atop skyscrapers ) catches our attention is 'cos of the risk involved. Plus the fact that we won’t ever take such risks makes such spectacles even more alluring. Risk prone behaviors have been the subject to studies by researchers for long. One such recently commissioned study at Brock University will try and figure what goes on in the heads of young people when they engage in risky behavior, including drinking, taking drugs, and even physical inactivity and poor nutrition which are generally not associated with risk.

The ability to balance between taking and mitigating risks is essential for an interesting wholesome life. Marketers on their part are benefited both by consumers taking risks and doing what is necessary to mitigate it. When innovative products are introduced into the marketplace, theory tells us it is the innovators who move first to buy. They are followed by the early adopters. Both innovators and early adopters like taking risks, and are key to the further adoption of the innovation in the marketplace by mass consumers. In contrast, a product like Life Insurance is about mitigating risks. Studies show that millennials, though they admit to the need for life insurance aren’t keen on buying a policy. Now that can be termed ‘risky behavior’. Research revealed that 67 percent of the millennials surveyed would leave behind massive levels of debt if they died, thus subjecting their families to enormous financial difficulties.

The common reasons as to why people don’t buy Life Insurance and mitigate risks include the costs involved, misconceptions they have about the product, competing financial priorities, the complexity associated with buying insurance products, lack of trust, and even the unpleasantness involved in mulling over their sense of mortality. Truth is, waiting to buy life insurance is risky and ends being costly too. Buying a life insurance product early is rewarding. The young buyer ends up paying lower premiums, enjoys greater ease of qualifying for the product, has better conversion options, and enjoys early tax benefits.

Though risk-prone behavior is never a default, in the case of buying insurance it seems so, at least among the millennials. It would be good for them to realize the risks in not buying insurance. You see, it may be good to live long, but it’s smart to insure just in case you don’t.