30) Life Ain’t Cheap

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ife isn't cheap, it's fleeting.  Life isn't cheap, it's valuable.  Life isn't cheap, it's expensive.

            Life is valuable.

            I am experiencing a death every 10 days since Christmas.  The sheer numbers are giving me anxiety - forget about the pain related to the individual deaths and funerals.

            I'm losing family, young classmates, other friends and/or their parents & family.

            I have enough stress with putting tax season to bed, business, staff, technology, travel, injuries, and other personal issues and obligations.  But life has a way of getting in the way of plans.

            Life is changing fast.  The world is changing fast.  Is the world really ending December 21, 2012?

            A new concept in financial planning has taken root over the last few years: Human Capital.

            As opposed to investment capital (your money available to invest, or that is already invested), Human Capital deals with the amount of money you earn over a lifetime.  That amount may be bigger dollar-wise (and/or more valuable if you measure wealth by health, happiness, and quality of life), than what you save, invest and grow.  Therefore, it may be a higher priority in your financial planning.

            People like to protect their investments (e.g. bank accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate).  But they often make this a priority over protecting their lives, their health, and livelihoods (e.g. health, nutrition, exercise, sleep insurance, disability prevention &  insurance, life insurance, death prevention and planning, estate planning, mental health & attitude).

            How many people do you know that take better care of their cars than their bodies?  How many spend more time primping than pumping (iron, or their hearts & lungs)?  How many spend more money on cigarettes than healthy nutrition? What percentage of the people you know who watch TV & drink alcohol, also meditate & invest in mental health?  How many stretch their hamstrings in addition to a buck?

            How many people that you know, have:

Ø  Adequate health insurance?

Ø  Annual physicals?

Ø  Annual dental check-ups?

Ø  Adequate/appropriate disability insurance?

Ø  Adequate/appropriate long-term care insurance?

Ø  Appropriate titling of assets?

Ø  Up-to-date primary and contingent beneficiaries on assets?

Ø  Up-to-date health care proxies (primary & secondary)?

Ø  An appropriate Living Will with appropriate primary & contigent executors/executrixes?

Ø  An up-to-date & appropriate Durable Power-of-Attorney

Ø  Funeral wishes expressed & paid?

Ø  Appropriate primary & contingent guardians for their children & pets

Ø  A little black book of what's where, and who to contact in case of an emergency, disability, trouble, death, or travel?

Ø  A total financial plan?

            Failing to plan is planning to fail.  It takes away options and control.  And it usually adds insult to injury when stress and adrenaline are already at their peak.

            When a foreseen event is taking place, it's time for action, not research & planning.  Thoughtful planning & preparation take place in advance.

            And we all know that someday we will die.  What if it's today?  What if it's this afternoon?  What if it's tonight?  Who will pick the kids up?  Walk the dog?  Feed the cat?

            What if it's a disease that prevents you from getting insurance?  What if you need care, and now Medicaid won't pay?  What if it's a terminal disease, giving you only weeks or months to live - less time than the IRS allows for deductible gifting?

            What if it's sudden & unexpected?  At your desk, In the bathroom, crossing the street, in a car, the subway, the elevator, the gym, the dinner table, or in bed?

            Who's going to get your money, property & prized possessions when you die?  Uncle Sam?  State governments?  Lawyers?  Creditors?  Old Age Homes?  Hospitals?  Funeral Homes?

            There are no second chances, no do-overs, no summer school, or remedial classes.  It's water under the bridge, spilled milk - poof you're gone!

            It's how we live our lives that defines us.

            Life is valuable.  Death is inevitable.  You plan dinner, you plan marriages, you plan births, you plan education, you plan trips; have you planned for your final departure?

            How valuable is your life?  What's its cost?  How much is it worth?  Who depends on you?  What does disability cost?  What does retirement cost?  What does old age cost?  What does death cost?  What's the cost of not answering these questions?

            It's inevitable, why wait?