Persistence Makes the Difference
CindyLu Rowe
With four young children, a wife with a modest income, a mortgage and some business debt, Mike Rowe had an obvious need for life insurance. But the family budget was stretched thin, and Mike didn't think he could afford it.
That didn't stop agent Craig Miller, CLU, ChFC, CSA, from calling Mike several times to arrange an appointment. He knew Mike was taking an enormous risk, and was determined to do something about it. When they got together, they spoke for hours before Mike finally agreed that he needed to fit life insurance into his budget. Mike bought a universal life policy that would protect his family while allowing him to accumulate cash value that he could tap into for future needs.
Over the next few years, Mike called Craig several times to say he wanted to cancel the policy because he needed money for his business. Each time, Craig persuaded him otherwise. But knowing that Mike's financial challenges wouldn't soon disappear, Craig convinced Mike to use the policy's accumulated cash values to keep the coverage in force and he lowered his premium to a largely symbolic amount of $1 a month.
Two years later, Craig learned that Mike had terminal brain cancer. Although the Rowe's knew from their monthly checking account statements that they were still sending $1 to the insurance company, Mike's wife, CindyLu, couldn't believe that $1 could keep a $100,000 policy in force. But Craig assured them that the cash values had kept the policy from lapsing, and that money would be there for CindyLu and the children.
A week before losing his battle with cancer at age 47, Mike sent Craig a letter thanking him for his persistence. "The day you came over to talk about life insurance I was predetermined not to buy any. The events of that evening will forever change the lives of my family," he wrote.
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