Six Stones – 2. It’s All Gibberish

Insurance shouldn’t be seen as a potential windfall, or a lottery win, because it’s not. Instead, it’s a tool to help you get back on to the path you were on before everything fell apart.

So if you were on track to clear the mortgage, have the school fees paid and retire at 65 – your insurance should be designed to make sure this still happens.

Six Stones – 2. Accept & Transfer

Most people know, when asked to think about it, that they’re Accepting the likelihood of these events happening. But very, very few ever acknowledge that they’re also Accepting the consequences.

Six Stones – 2. Closing the Gap

Reviewing your resources, choosing which ones to apply to your risk management plan and also modifying your expectations all help to lessen the malevolent power of the Gap.

There is another way to close the Gap as well. It’s not an alternative path, rather a complimentary one.

Increasing what you already have.

Six Stones – 2. The Gap

In real life, it’s this ‘gap’ that keeps people up at night, worrying about how they’d make ends meet if they got sick, or if the kids would be able to stay at school, or any other of the million things that invade our brains right before we drift off.

Six Stones – 2. In Times of Trouble

Money will dictate your experience of them.

Because money provides options, it provides choice, it provides a level of comfort that people experiencing death, disability or serious illness will crave.

And on the other side of the ironically referenced coin, the lack of money will shrink the possibilities, reduce perspectives and limit options.

Six Stones – 2. The Path Less Traveled

There is, of course, no perfect answer or path to follow here. Each one – like with all risk management plans – is a miasma of compromise, acceptance and chance.

But, at the risk of repeating myself, simply having the conversation puts you in a better position to brave your way through such an awful part of life.

You won’t have all the answers or resources you might ever need. But you’ll have some of both, which is a damned good start.

Six Stones – 2. The Nightmare Conversation

Which brings us back to our fundamental risk equation – Likelihood x Impact.

The Likelihood, though not ‘high’, is much further from zero than I think any of us would like.

But what of the impact a critical illness can have?

Well, it’s fair to say that it’s devastating.

How Much Does Financial Advice Cost?

The simple answer here is that you’re paying for certainty.

You’re paying for the knowledge that you have a third-party, with deep expertise in the financial world, reviewing your situation and keeping you on the path towards the life you want to live.

Somebody who helps you make consistently better decisions than you might make on your own, with less stress and angst than you get worrying about them yourself.

Six Stones – 2. Louise’s Thoughts

Louise took a deep breath, looked out the window and started talking, “Well, if I had to stop working, then we wouldn’t be able to pay the rent.

There’s no way I could put money towards the kid’s school fees.

And I couldn’t afford to pay down those debts. I mean, they’re not huge, but I couldn’t afford to pay them off.

How Can You Pay for Financial Advice?

In my experience, these discussions around fees are rarely held with our clients to this level of detail. And fair enough too – I’m not sure I’d want my doctor explaining, in detail, how she gets paid.

But I also think it’s a good idea for people seeking advice to know some of the mechanics that go into what’s an important consideration – the cost of that advice.