I recently went through the process of increasing my life insurance and also added some life insurance on my wife. We did this because our third daughter is about to be born and if anything should happen to either one of us, we want to make sure all of our girls are taken care of.
Also, as part of this, I went through the exercise of outlining how I thought my brother and his wife, the beneficiaries if both my wife and I pass at the same time, should spend the money if they happen to receive it. I think some people have a hard time thinking about what things would be like if they died - I didn't, really.
However, what did suprise me was how important this money became - and what this money meant. The money became everything because neither my wife nor myself would be there - so the only thing we would be able to provide to our girls is that money.
For example, I would want to give each of my girls $20,000 for their weddings. If both my wife and I are around, I guarentee you that none of my girls will receive $20,000 for their weddings. Why? One, because we probably won't have that kind of money. And two, because we'll be there - we'll be there to pick out their dress, I'll be there to walk them down the aisle, and we'll be there to eat cake with them at their reception. But, if we're not there - the only thing we can give them is this money. It won't be a replacement for our presence, but it would have to be.
It made me think about the phrase, money isn't everything. I agree with that phrase but in this situation - it would be everything.