Broken Refrigerators & Unseasonable Snow
Posted by Valley Insurance Associates, Inc. on Fri, Nov 11, 2011 @ 11:40 AM
Man, life can be unpredictable. When I speak with people, they are so often looking to grasp control of their life and finances. They want to be making decisions that control the direction of their lives, and I like to help them do so.
But a critical part of my role as a financial planner is helping people recognize just how unpredictable life truly is…and then planning for that unpredictability. That unpredictability can be good. It can also be bad. It can result in emergencies that cost us time and money and spirit. It can also bring tremendous opportunity and be uplifting.
This week we've seen some of that unpredictability. Wednesday it snowed in much of Wisconsin. The Fox Valley was hit fairly hard for so early in November. Weather forecasts the day prior indicated we would have little to no snow here. Yet it snowed.
People lost power. It cost them money. Car accidents happened. Those cost them money and time and health.
Last week a colleague discovered his freezer was not working properly. The freezer had no problems prior, but it simply would not cool enough suddenly. He had to buy a new fridge/freezer. It cost him money and time. And I can attest to him being frustrated by this unpredictability.
And while he hadn't planned for his fridge dying seemingly overnight, he had put money aside for a rainy day. He wasn't happy spending the money, but he was able to do so without major impact.
Our lives are unpredictable. Stuff happens we don't expect. Our goals change suddenly. We discover a new passion that we never realized we had. We decide to live intentionally and that changes our path.
You can prepare for these things financially. You can be ready for the good unexpected and the bad unexpected.
And you can be certain there will be the unexpected.
For informational purposes only and not intended as financial advice. Please speak with your financial and tax professionals for specific recommendations.
Nathan Gehring, CFP® writes weekly in his Financial Friday column. He can be contacted via email at ngehring@cfpi-wis.com.