By Martelli Adeka
I was 25 when the call came. My father had died suddenly—no warning, no preparation. Within hours, I was forced to answer questions no grieving son should face: How do we pay for this? Who covers his debts? What happens to our family now?
The answer: We figured it out ourselves. Because my father—a hardworking man who believed he was doing everything right—had no life insurance.
That moment at my families’ kitchen table, drowning in unpaid bills and funeral costs averaging $8,300 in the U.S., changed everything. It became the reason I do what I do today.
The Lie We Tell Ourselves
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: 1 in 4 workers will become disabled before retirement age. Yet most believe they’re bulletproof.
Your employer’s life insurance? It typically covers just 1-2 times your annual salary—barely enough to bury you, let alone support your family. Your disability coverage at work? It pays 60% of your salary after 90 days of waiting. Try telling your landlord to wait three months for rent.
We think we’re protected. We’re not.
From Building Movie Theaters in Haiti to Protecting Legacies in South Florida
I didn’t grow up with wealth. In Saint Louis Du Nord, Haiti, my great-grandmother “Grann Mana” taught me resilience through entrepreneurship. By nine, I sold vegetables from my garden. By 13, I’d built and operated a small movie theater for my community.
When I moved to the United States at 17, I carried those lessons with me. Work hard. Build security. Prepare for the future.
But in 2016, I learned the hardest lesson: Hard work alone doesn’t protect your family. Preparation does.
Losing my father without life insurance nearly destroyed us financially. That pain became my mission.
What Most Financial Advisors Won’t Tell You
After nearly a decade in this industry, I’ve discovered something disturbing: Most financial advisors are trained to sell products, not protect legacies.
They’ll push policies that benefit their commissions. They’ll tell you “you’re covered” when you’re not. They’ll use fear tactics instead of honest guidance.
I decided to do the opposite.
At Kaizen Family Financial Consultants, we believe in slow, thoughtful preparation that creates fast, powerful results when life strikes. No pressure. No jargon. Just respect for what you’ve built and a commitment to make it last.
Because you’re not a policy number. You’re a king. A mother. A visionary. A warrior. And your legacy deserves better than false security.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Right Now
Before you assume you’re protected, answer these honestly:
- If you died tomorrow, could your family afford your funeral ($7,000-$12,000 on average) and survive without your income for 12 months?
- If you became disabled and couldn’t work, could you pay your mortgage, car payment, and groceries for 90 days while waiting for benefits to kick in?
- Do you know exactly what your employer’s life and disability coverage actually provides—and more importantly, what it doesn’t?
If you hesitated on any of these, you’re not alone. Most working Americans don’t have real answers. But not knowing doesn’t protect you when life strikes.
What My Father’s Death Taught Me
If I could go back and tell my father one thing, it would be this:
“Dad, you’re not invincible. But your family’s future can be.”
I can’t change the past. But I can honor his memory by ensuring no family experiences what mine did.
Every client I serve, every legacy I help secure—it’s my way of keeping the promise I made at that kitchen table in 2016.
I’m not here to sell you. I’m here to tell you the truth.
The kings, mothers, visionaries, and warriors I serve don’t wait until it’s too late. They prepare now. They protect what they’ve built. They ensure their families never have to choose between grieving and surviving.
If you’re ready to find out whether your family is truly protected, I’ve created a simple checklist to get you started.
Download: “The 3-Minute Legacy Protection Checklist”
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About the Author:
Martelli Adeka is the founder of Kaizen Family Financial Consultants in Coral Springs, Florida. Born in Haiti and shaped by the financial devastation of losing his father without life insurance, Martelli specializes in insurance for working families across the United States. His mission: ensure no family faces the pain his did.