The life insurance industry is filled with good people who believe in their work and their companies, but who may never have challenged the assumptions underlying their efforts.

Not surprisingly, the insurance lobby recoils in horror at the prospect of automatic coverage (including, when it was first proposed, Social Security), no matter how efficient it may be. Automatic coverage eliminates sales commissions and profit.

Man's natural life span, 75 to 90 years or so, has not increased. It is the number of us who manage to attain it that has increased.

There's no question young drivers have far more accidents than older ones - but is it our aim to keep them off the roads? Or to allow only rich young people (who can afford the premiums) to drive?

There are only two things as complicated as insurance accounting and I have no idea what they are.

Rule of thumb: The more trimmings an insurance plan has and the harder someone is pitching it, the faster you should run.

The industry cannot long offer unneeded or overpriced insurance if people will not buy it.