If you took term insurance when you were 33 years of age and now you are 68, and your children are settled and you are reviewing your expenses, would you think of the term insurance premium as a waste?

Well, it was supposed to give you peace of mind, and you got that. So to that extent it was not a waste. In retrospect all risk reduction expenses – hedging the US $ if you are an importer or exporter would be a case in point.

A couple of days ago I was in Karnal and had to take a 21.30 flight from Delhi. I left K at about 14.30 hours. Uber / Google told me it would take about 3 hours to reach. This meant I would be in T1 terminal at 17.30. Add a tea break to that…and I would be in the airport in a best case scenario by 18 hours. Too early if all went well. Make no mistake – I HAD TO BE IN MUMBAI FOR A 9.30 appointment on the next day. In case there was a traffic jam I would reach an hour late, and that would still be fine for a 19.30 flight. I actually reached at 18 hours. On the dot, with the half an hour (optional) tea break.

What was the risk? risk was reaching late risk (and missing the flight). Was I paying a premium? Yes. I could have spent more time with the family in Karnal. I missed that. In retrospect it feels like a waste of 2 hours in Delhi airport instead of the group in Karnal. Expensive? too high a price to pay for being ‘over-cautious’? I am not sure. Hey, things could have gone wrong. The Chandigarh-Delhi highway is a very high traffic route, things could have gone wrong. Things could have gone wrong AFTER I entered Delhi (D traffic is notorious is it not?).

These are thus just choices that we make.

Similarly I had to be in Mumbai for my daughter’s admission in FYBcom..so we rushed back. It was not clear whether some 3rd person could have managed it with a Power of Attorney. So we rushed back. Now we realize that it could have been done.

Risk? what if it had not been done? what if the college insisted that the student/ parent had to be present?

Premium: wasted air tickets costing a bomb + booked fresh tickets at sky high price.

In retrospect will I be EVER able to know whether the risk premium was worth paying? No. However, if we had not come, and the Power of attorney did not work..it could have been a lifetime of regret.

Peace of mind vs some cash…that is what the insurance premia means. Well I will never be able to say whether it was worth it. However, I know that

a. there was risk, and the risk could be transferred on payment of an amount called premium. I knew I could AFFORD it. It gave me peace of mind, and yes my daughter got admission!!