Free life insurance can help reduce ‘real fears’ for eligible parents

When 21-year-old Amanda Tolliver's mother, Ginger, died of a brain aneurysm five years ago, the devastation and loss seemed unbearable to her.

But as days and months passed, Amanda learned her mother Ginger had left her an unexpected gift.

A few years before she died, Ginger Tolliver applied for life insurance through the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company's (MassMutual) nationwide LifeBridge free life insurance program. The program provides income eligible working families with a $50,000, 10-year term life insurance policy that will aid their children in pursuing their education if the household's insured dies within the term of the policy. Policy benefits are given to the beneficiaries through trust services offered by The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB, a wholly-owned stock subsidiary of MassMutual. MassMutual pays the premiums on the policy for the person that is insured.

Such planning ahead isn't always easy, but because education was important to Ginger, she took advantage of the LifeBridge program to help ensure her children succeed despite life's inevitable, unplanned challenges, her daughter says.

Still, for parents with lower incomes like Ginger, the thought of being able to afford college, especially if the primary income earner were to die, can seem daunting, if not impossible.

Cindie St. George, director of the LifeBridge program for MassMutual, says LifeBridge gives options to families and fits with the company's philanthropic stance that education for all children is the key to their success and that of the country.

"In these challenging economic times, it is easy to think that there are no options for families who work hard but have little resources. LifeBridge can help bridge that gap," she says. "Our program recognizes that many people, who value life insurance most, are often those who can least afford it."

Indeed, the cost of not planning for college can be prohibitive. The current tuition rate for four-year, in-state schools is about $9,000 a year according to The College Board's Trends in College Pricing 2010 and Trends in Student Aid 2010 report. Private schools are even more expensive - about $35,000 a year.

For Amanda, her mother's foresight meant she could purchase a computer, obtain her high school diploma and continue on to college to pursue a medical assistant career while raising her daughter, Haleigh.

"My mother always wanted me and my brothers and sisters to do well and get an education," Amanda, of Michigan, says. "When she died, I did not know what I was going to do."

Now, thanks to her mother's planning, she has a path, she says.

To be eligible to apply for the term life insurance policy applicants must be:
* Between the ages of 19 and 42 (inclusive).
* A permanent, legal U.S. resident.
* Currently employed - either full or part-time and have a family income between $10,000 and $40,000.
* The parent or legal guardian of at least one dependent child under the age of 18

For complete details, visit www.massmutual.com/lifebridge to find the Community Responsibility site or call (800) 767-1000 ext. 24188 for more information.