Page 52 - FOP_Magazine_ February2019

Chicago Lodge 7 Magazine Sponsor Spotlight
Insuring a Legacy
Come to Grandmama’s house to ensure that life insurance and other important documents are protected
■ BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Shelby Dennis wants to provide Chicago Lodge 7 members with a little extra safe- keeping every time they walk out the door to start a tour. Or, that support will be there should something happen to any officer’s mother or father, grandmother or grandfa- ther or other family member.
Dennis has worked in the insurance in-
dustry for more than 14 years, making sure
that officers and their families are covered and their financial stability ensured should the unthinkable occur. In June 2018, she started Grandmama’s List, a digital lockbox that stores im- portant documents such as life insurance policies and provides a no-worry mechanism to access the information when needed.
“As a law enforcement officer, you already have life insurance and you might have even paid for some extra insurance to give your family real peace of mind,” Dennis explains. “If something were to happen to you, do they have instantaneous access to all your information? We don’t want to make things any harder than it would already be.”
For less than $4 per month, that peace of mind can make sure loved ones have the access that is already earmarked.
“Like with the City of Chicago, the bene- fits are through Met Life. If you’ve been on the job for only one year, you might have $75,000 coming from the City. If you’re a military veteran or still active, we list that as well. We can secure everything that your family is entitled to that they might not
even know about.”
The foundation of Grandmama’s List was formed by the per-
sonal service Dennis has provided since becoming an insurance agent in 2005. She would spend 20 to 25 hours per week dealing with claims, making sure her clients received their money. She wasn’t even the agent for some of them.
“They trusted me to take care of them, and I did,” she shares.
Dennis came up with the idea for Grandmama’s while assist- ing a client who had two college students studying away from home. She was helping to compile a resource of information for the students if anything were to happen to their mother, who
52 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2019