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Another take from the same text we've been using. This one, to my mind, is really dated.
Dictation pieces must be a minimum of three minutes to be a valid test. Anything under three minutes is therefore not acceptable for testing purposes. Keep in mind that before Diamond Jubilee Gregg, all shorthand tests were five minutes. If you go back far enough, tests were ten minutes or longer.
200 Takes for Building Shorthand Speed, Zoubek, 1946, Letter 111
Dear Friend: I was talking to Mr. Smith the other day, and he suggested that I write you about my life insurance policy and why I decided to invest in life insurance.
A few years ago, I found that I was not saving any money. Usually I spent it as fast as I made it. Now and then I saved for something I wanted to buy, but of course that didn’t get me anywhere. What I needed was a long-range plan. I found that a good life insurance policy provides that plan because I have to save money regularly for the premiums.
But that was not all. My mother had done a great deal for me, and I wanted to do something for her; so I made her the beneficiary of my policy. Of course, some day I suppose I shall get married; when that time comes I shall probably make some revision in the policy.
Some day, too, I may want to go into business for myself and I may have to borrow money. I understand that in passing on a loan some banks ask whether you own life insurance; I have also heard that when you apply to some big corporations for a job, they ask you the same questions. Consequently, I figured that some day my policy may help me to get ahead in business or to land a better job. No matter how you look at it, I think insurance is a good thing.
Of course, I hardly knew one life insurance policy from another; but when an agent of the Commonwealth Life Insurance Company called, I talked things over with him. He explained the benefits and the premiums and other things connected with a policy. He said that young men usually took an ordinary life policy or a limited-payment life policy. After he had asked me a number of questions and discussed my situation thoroughly, he recommended an ordinary life policy for $5,000 because it gives more permanent protection for the premium paid than any other life insurance policy.
Well, $5,000 seemed a great deal for me, and at first I did not think I could handle it; but I found that the premiums at my age would be about $100 a year and I knew I could save that much if I tried. So that is what I am doing. What’s more, I am going to let the company invest my dividends, so that some day my policy will be worth $5,000 in cash.
The agent told me a great deal about the Commonwealth Life Insurance Company. He said that young people under the age of thirty bought more than $100 million worth of life insurance last year from his company.
If you want to know more about my policy, let me know and I shall be glad to discuss it with you at any time that is convenient to you. Very truly yours,
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