Like you I am totally perplexed by this. What are their models. What is their data. What are their assumptions. Just pretend to be an insurance company but ignore literally everything that goes into providing insurance? Like you say, the numbers make no sense. The whole thing seems like a ponzi scheme.
But here's the real question. How many people actually participate in Areivim? I don't know anybody that does. Do you? Maybe I just don't hang out in the right circles.
Unfortunately, yes. My aunt passed away 2 years ago, with several kids. I was told they had areivim. I think the money was paid to some escrow account, though I am not certain.
I have Areivim and most people I know have it too (yes, I live in Lakewood). I know someone who unfortunately had to claim Areivim a few years ago. At the time, Areivim was a few months behind and only made the collection for him six months later. From what I understand, the money was put into a low-risk investment fund (it's possible that they require something that's FDIC insured, I don't recall exactly).
Incidentally, Areivim recently decided due to the abundant inflation to raise the payout to $150k per orphan. If they were at all financially insolvent, they would not have undertaken a 50% increase.
From what I've seen, I don't think that their members tend to be wealthy like you hypothesize, if anything it's the opposite.
Although Areivim is a tremendous help, the money they raise is intended for marrying off the orphans. In Lakewood, when a yungerman dies r"l without life insurance, they usually have to make another community-wide collection campaign for him, IN ADDITION to Areivim.
Interesting and encouraging. Although it begs the question: if Areivim can't provide a family's real needs, why don't they just advise young families to take out a good term insurance policy that *will* cover them and can cost as little as $50/month?
I'm also unaware of any acquaintances/contacts who belong. That's why I hadn't even thought about it for many years.
But I suspect this is popular in chassidishe circles. And I've seen online evidence suggesting it's big in Chabad. I'll ask my kids in Lakewood if their chevra is involved.
Like you I am totally perplexed by this. What are their models. What is their data. What are their assumptions. Just pretend to be an insurance company but ignore literally everything that goes into providing insurance? Like you say, the numbers make no sense. The whole thing seems like a ponzi scheme.
But here's the real question. How many people actually participate in Areivim? I don't know anybody that does. Do you? Maybe I just don't hang out in the right circles.
I have areivim and know many many people that have it as well.
Do you know anyone who has (sadly) had to claim a benefit?
Unfortunately, yes. My aunt passed away 2 years ago, with several kids. I was told they had areivim. I think the money was paid to some escrow account, though I am not certain.
I believe that's what they're supposed to do with the money in the meantime. It's an encouraging sign.
Interesting article. A few thoughts:
I have Areivim and most people I know have it too (yes, I live in Lakewood). I know someone who unfortunately had to claim Areivim a few years ago. At the time, Areivim was a few months behind and only made the collection for him six months later. From what I understand, the money was put into a low-risk investment fund (it's possible that they require something that's FDIC insured, I don't recall exactly).
Incidentally, Areivim recently decided due to the abundant inflation to raise the payout to $150k per orphan. If they were at all financially insolvent, they would not have undertaken a 50% increase.
From what I've seen, I don't think that their members tend to be wealthy like you hypothesize, if anything it's the opposite.
Although Areivim is a tremendous help, the money they raise is intended for marrying off the orphans. In Lakewood, when a yungerman dies r"l without life insurance, they usually have to make another community-wide collection campaign for him, IN ADDITION to Areivim.
Interesting and encouraging. Although it begs the question: if Areivim can't provide a family's real needs, why don't they just advise young families to take out a good term insurance policy that *will* cover them and can cost as little as $50/month?
I'm also unaware of any acquaintances/contacts who belong. That's why I hadn't even thought about it for many years.
But I suspect this is popular in chassidishe circles. And I've seen online evidence suggesting it's big in Chabad. I'll ask my kids in Lakewood if their chevra is involved.
I also have areivim for around 5 years, i would estimate its around 8-10 months a year that we pay out, and the average family is around 4 kids.