“Greg and Nicole Jenkins watched their television in shock as the World Trade Center collapsed. And then they acted,” writes Jeff Opdyke in today’s Wall Street Journal.

“Within days Mr. Jenkins, 39 years old, of Ennis, Texas, had his first life-insurance policy. For just $27 a month, he got $250,000 of term life insurance to provide for his wife and three children.”

” ‘It’s never in anyone’s wildest dreams that something like this could happen,’ says Mrs. Jenkins. ‘But then you see it, and it brings home the realization that you don’t know from day to day what could happen. There’s no promise of tomorrow.’ “

“The events of Sept. 11 have a lot of people worrying about tomorrow. Some 1.4 million life-insurance applications were filed in October, up 9% vs. a year earlier and 26% from September, says the Medical Information Bureau, a Westwood, Mass., database and information provider representing major U.S. and Canadian life and health insurers.”

“The quest for insurance is particularly acute in and around New York City, home to the demolished World Trade Center. The number of New York-area policies submitted to MassMutual Financial Group was up between 30% and 45% in October from last year, marking the first month this year to outperform last year’s tally.”

“If you’re in the market for your first life-insurance policy or are upping the coverage you already have, most financial planners recommend term life. Term insurance is pretty simple: every month or year, you pay a premium that buys a certain amount of coverage. Because you’re buying pure insurance, and not a lot of bells and whistles found on other life-insurance products, your premium dollars can buy quite a lot of protection. A 35-year-old nonsmoking male can buy a $500,000 term-life policy for between $300 and $450 a year, depending upon a variety of factors and the insurance company. With certain plans, those rates remain the same for 20 or 30 years.”

“How much insurance do you need? The rule of thumb is six to eight times your annual income, but the truth is it depends. If you have young children and your spouse doesn’t work, you probably need more. If you have your mortgage paid off and kids through college, you probably need less. If you’re single, you may not need any at all.”