The first chore you should tackle after you’ve cleared your desk at the office is to dig through your important papers and reacquaint yourself with those long-forgotten policies. You’ve been paying premiums all this time; now is the time to find out where you’re covered. Who knows, this one little financial investment might be cause for you to give yourself a pat on the back for having enough forethought to anticipate the possibility of finding yourself unemployed. It could be just what you need to cover the expenses each month until you’ve found a new position. Besides, you really didn’t want to have to cut the satellite television, did you? Financial solutions often present themselves when we least expect them to—if we’re open to the possibilities, of course.
If you’ve just come through slim times and are ready to hear a bit of financial consulting that will keep the next near-crisis at a minimum, then you’ve certainly learned the wisdom of becoming proactive. Nothing’s worse than having to react to the unexpected and finding yourself painfully unprepared. Don’t kid yourself into thinking lightning never strikes twice. It does. Taking steps now—when it’s the least of the worries on your mind—can offset the loss of an income and can ensure that history won’t repeat itself, or at the least, it won’t be as devastating as it could have been.
There are many financial insurance services that can provide the coverage a family needs in the event of a job loss or the loss of a spouse. If you’ve ever heard the saying ''life just gets in the way,'' this is exactly how life can get in our way. All of our creditors have insurance on our accounts, right? They cover their bases in case we lose our jobs; it’s their way of protecting their investment. It stands to reason that we should cover our own bases. We are our own investments and the sole overseers in our financial stability.
Whether it’s our retirement plans, health insurance, investments, or disability insurance, we have commitments to our families to safeguard them from the unexpected. The dynamics behind these decisions are simple: cover the bases. The advantages of financial insurances are numerous, but most importantly, the peace of mind that comes with knowing our families are protected is by far the biggest advantage. Vital safeguards include:
- Keeping our wills current. If you’ve not yet prepared a will, now’s the time. There’s no reason every young adult shouldn’t have a will drawn.
- Compiling a complete and thorough inventory of all family assets. This includes everything in the safety deposit boxes too.
- Compile a spreadsheet with computer passwords, combinations to safes, and other information that will assist family members in the event of your death. You’ll want to protect this document, of course. The best bet is to password-protect the document, back it up, and label it as confidential. Use a password hint that only the person you’ve entrusted will be able to decipher. You might even want to consider having it included in your legal documents stored at your attorney’s office.
- Review and revise insurance policies when necessary. Set reminders. Consider using an electronic calendar in your email account or on your PDA so that you’re never lacking coverage.
- Ensure you increase your contributions to your retirement plan each time you receive an increase in pay.
