Roslyn Sanchez on life insurance – ‘Family is everything’

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, and this year, Life Happens, a national nonprofit that educates consumers about the importance of life insurance, has partnered with Roselyn Sánchez as the spokesperson to express the importance of protecting your family. You may know Sanchez as an actress, producer, singer, and songwriter, but she describes her most important role as that of mother and wife. “Family is everything,” she explains. “I never thought about life insurance before kids. I thought it was something older people do. But once you have kids, everything changes. You don’t live for yourself anymore. You live for your kids.” It was this shift in priority that made the decision to purchase life insurance easy. Sanchez has always considered herself an educated person, but she had no idea how easy, affordable, and necessary life insurance would be until she started getting to know him.

As a Puerto Rican woman, she believes this message is especially important to get across to the Hispanic community. “In the Hispanic community, we’re very concerned with family but don’t necessarily focus on the financial side of it.” Although 55% of Hispanic Millennials say their family will experience financial hardship within six months if the base pay holder unexpectedly dies, only 41% actually have life insurance. She says one of the main barriers to purchasing life insurance for the Hispanic community has to do with communication. “Latinos can be superstitious. We don’t want to talk about death.” She goes on to say that a lack of education is a major barrier for all adults, but especially for Hispanic adults. People often have the misconception that life insurance is too expensive or a huge obligation. What many don’t know is that a healthy 30-year-old can get a $250,000 20-year insurance policy for just $13 a month. This means that if you buy this policy and pay $13 a month without fail, your loved ones will get $250,000 if you were to die at any time during those 20 years.

Finally, language barriers often contribute to a lack of education about life insurance. This year’s LIAM will offer a selection of resources in Spanish – including digital handouts, social media graphics, videos, animations, and more. Life Happens will also release Spanish versions of some of its most popular tools and resources, including the Life Insurance 101 video and handbook, Myths vs. Facts About Life Insurance and the Life Insurance Needs Calculator.

For Sanchez, the decision gives her peace of mind. “Life insurance is about investing in your future and your family. If anything happens to me, I know my family will be taken care of.”