I've been having more conversations lately with clients from Chicago's South Side. Young people — 20s, early 30s — sharp, hardworking, building their lives. And when the subject of life insurance comes up, I get the same response almost every time.
"I'm too young for that."
But here's what I've noticed: their mothers have it. Their grandmothers have it. And in many cases, their mothers and grandmothers have policies on them — policies the younger generation doesn't even know exist.
That isn't a coincidence. That's wisdom earned through decades of lived experience in communities where loss comes without warning, and where the cost of that loss — financial, emotional, social — falls on whoever is left behind.
The Question Nobody Asks at a Funeral
When someone we love passes, two things happen simultaneously. The grief is immediate and overwhelming. And then, quietly at first — then loudly — the financial reality sets in.
The average funeral in Illinois costs between $7,000 and $12,000. That number includes the casket, the burial or cremation, the service, the transportation, the flowers, the programs. It does not include the repast. It does not include the time people take off work. It does not include the hotel rooms for family members traveling in from out of town.
When that money isn't there — when the family has to pass around a collection basket at the repast, when a GoFundMe gets shared through the neighborhood, when the service has to be cut short or the burial delayed because the funeral home needs a payment — something else happens alongside the grief.
Embarrassment. Financial shame layered on top of emotional devastation.
"When someone brings up the loss of a family member years later — do they remember their life, or do they remember the financial burden? More often than we admit, the sadness comes attached to financial pain."
I have heard this sentiment from client after client. And I believe it. Because I have seen it. A family that cannot give their loved one a proper farewell carries that with them. It becomes part of how that person is remembered — not just for who they were, but for what the family couldn't do.
That is the thing that a $25-a-month life insurance policy prevents. Not just the bill. The memory of the burden.
Why Grandma Already Knew
There is a reason the older generation in South Side communities — Black and Latino families especially — have quietly carried life insurance policies for decades. It wasn't taught in schools. It wasn't advertised on billboards in their neighborhoods. It was passed down.
Grandmother knew what it looked like when someone didn't have coverage. She saw it happen to her neighbor, her cousin, her church sister. She watched a family crumble under the weight of a burial they couldn't afford while still raw from the loss itself. And she made a decision: that will not be us.
So she went and got a small policy. A final expense policy. Sometimes called burial insurance. $10,000. $15,000. $25,000. Enough to cover the service, give the family some breathing room, and let people focus on mourning instead of fundraising.
And then she got one on her children. And when the grandchildren came, she got them covered too — because she understood that tragedy doesn't check your age at the door.
"In communities where gun violence, accidents, and sudden illness take lives at younger ages than the national average, waiting until you're 'old enough to need life insurance' is a gamble that too many families have lost. The grandmothers knew this. They built protection anyway."
What $25 a Month Actually Buys
Let's be specific, because this is where a lot of young people tune out. They hear "life insurance" and imagine huge premiums and complicated applications. The reality for a final expense or burial policy is very different.
A final expense policy for a healthy 25-year-old with $10,000–$25,000 in coverage can cost as little as $20–$40 per month. That's less than a streaming subscription. Less than two tanks of gas. Less than one dinner out.
The application is simple. There is no medical exam required for many final expense policies — just a few health questions. Coverage can start almost immediately. And when the unexpected happens, the benefit pays directly to whoever you name — quickly, without a lengthy claims process.
This isn't complicated. The grandmothers figured it out without Google. The only barrier is the conversation — and that's exactly what I'm here to have.
The Conversation That Needs to Happen
I'm not going to pretend the conversation is easy. In many communities, talking about death is taboo. You don't "jinx" yourself by planning for it. You don't bring it up at the dinner table. You don't think about it when you're young and healthy and your whole life is ahead of you.
But here's the other side of that. The people who don't have that conversation — who keep pushing it off, who say they'll deal with it later — they leave the conversation to their families. Except by then, it's not a planning conversation. It's a crisis conversation. And families in crisis don't make good financial decisions. They make desperate ones.
What I am asking young people — especially those in communities where loss comes close and comes often — is this: have the conversation now. Not because you're going to die. But because the people who love you deserve to mourn you without simultaneously trying to figure out how to pay for you.
Your grandmother already understood this. She put a policy on you before you even knew what life insurance was. Honor what she knew. And get coverage for yourself.
A $25-a-month decision today is a $10,000 gift to the people who will miss you most. That's not morbid. That's love.
— Patrick Villalobos, Owner · Lakeside Insurance Partners · NPN 12112672