Thread: Are you prepared?

I've recently made a career change into the financial services industry and have been learning some surprising things. It made me wonder how financially prepared our little group is. Think about these questions: do you actually have the right amount and type of life insurance? Do you know what the "right amount" is? If something happens and you're disabled, will you be ok? Do you have a plan in place to take care of your parents if they need long term care? Are your retirement plans dependent on the market or are they actual plans?

I'm just curious. I know all of the above for me (at the moment) is no. I'm definitely not ready for anything. Part of it is that I simply didn't know I should ask those questions, or that I could actually do something about it.

If your someone of means you can afford to cover every eventuality in life. For most folks it's just hard to get through life. I realize the financial services industry (nothing personal here) would like everyone to pay out half their income in various insurance policies and investment schemes but whether its important or not the reality is you can only do what you can afford to do. As far as taking care of others like parents most have problems taking care of themselves and their children.

I don't want to seem cold here but if our parents haven't planned for their futures and assumed someone would take care of them I think in most cases they are in big trouble.

No offense taken. There are a lot of scum in this industry, most of which are lining up for a bailout right now. I'm not the biggest fan of people in my position at other companies simply because our business goals for clients are far different. Don't think that I'm saying everyone should be prepared in all those events. It's true, if your parents didn't prepare, then there's not a whole lot that can be done. If that's the direction you want to see it though, that means that you should be prepared as well. It's mind blowing the amount of people who take your point of view but then don't prepare for their own retirement for whatever reason. I'm definitely one of those people. I don't plan on being there financially for my parents, but I don't have plans in place for my own retirement. Part of it is my situation in life, but most of it is really me not putting any thought into it.

Part of the issue (I think) is the aforementioned scum of the industry. They've made real and helpful products unavailable and dirty looking to most of the country, so no one wants to go to a "professional" to find help. It's like asking a car salesman if you should fix your car. It's sad, but it at least makes my job easier

As far as paying out half your income for insurance policies, I'm not saying you should do that either. However, we insure the other important things in our lives: homes, cars, razors in the mail, etc. Isn't your livelihood the most important thing you've got? In my eyes, only those of means can afford not to get eventuality insurance. I don't know about you, but I can't afford to be disabled. For that matter, I can't really afford to die. However, for the equivalent of about one nice W&B a year, I could at least cover everything my wife would need from paying off the bills to therapy and burial. That's worth a razor to me

Not sure what you're talking about. Health care is free (or, say included in what you pay) and retirement is paid by the state. Unless you live in the USA, the only country in the world without free health care as far as I am aware.

I'm pretty sure that insurance companies make maximum profits by not paying any claims... "exclusion" clauses are very popular in all policies that I've ever seen. It's been many years since I relied on insurance, mainly because I find it to be unreliable.

I have no idea what the "right amount" would be.

I have one parent under long term care now. Their own preparations are handling it.

I've been disabled and the only insurance that was worth anything was "Veterans Benefits". But that isn't really insurance. Luckily, I had a retirement plan that covers me well enough. I tend to invest in areas that keep pace with inflation. Interest bearing accounts are great too if they outpace inflation, devaluation, etc. Once you pay an insurance premium, you stand an excellent chance of never seeing that money again.

To sum up: I've found insurance, overall, to be about as useful as "boobies on a boar hog".

I'm actually not talking about health care at all- we do more in life when we're retired than go to the doctor (I hope!) As far as state run retirement, I'm not sure where you live, but retiring on social security in the US is like retiring to poverty. I assume that most of the US posters here live above poverty and would like to at least retire with the same quality of living.

Tend to agree.

Many people spend all their lives saving for their retirement and die within six months of stopping work and I mean many.

I'm not saying you shouldn't save or insure for risk but lets not go to extremes. What your parents do is not really your problem. I know, I'm a parent and I don't expect or want from my kids.

I believe that insurance is there to share risk between each other and banks exist to take care of peoples money safely, securely and with integrity. I also expect to give them a fair return for the service they provide.

However, both of these service providers throughout my life have proven themselves to have lost their way and seem to have no integrity and suffer from greed and stupidity. The current world economic crisis has been caused by disreputable bankers and wait until you need to make a legitimate insurance claim to see the integrity of the world of insurance.

I wish you luck in the Financial Services Industry but if you want to hold your head high, I suggest you stick to the basics like house insurance or car insurance, or risk averse pension schemes. If you don't you may end up not sleeping nights like many in your industry that have sold the public down the river.

Originally Posted by English

However, both of these service providers throughout my life have proven themselves to have lost their way and seem to have no integrity and suffer from greed and stupidity. The current world economic crisis has been caused by disreputable bankers and wait until you need to make a legitimate insurance claim to see the integrity of the world of insurance.

I agree. Thankfully, all financial companies aren't the same, and I've been fortunate enough through hard work to work for what the world considers the best.

I have a retirement setup through my work, since I work for educational it is pretty good. I also have a very small amount set aside each month in a tax deferred something or other. talked it over with my brilliant accountant. what I'm missing is a life insurance policy. I got no pay adjustment this years and things are just too tight. I plan to get at least a million bucks. I want my wife to be able to keep the house and my kids to be able to do whatever they choose. Of course they say the good die young, I may be immortal. but you can't bet on that can you?

I have one parent left, not old enought o be infermed and I'm of the firm opinion that when quality of life dwindles, well we have a population problem already and people are kept alive much past when they would like to be given a rational decision. (my great-grandmother was in a home for years, althzeimer's no quality of life whatsoever). my grandfather took a month to die, I s*#t you not, he was in the hospital for a month just slowly letting go. horrible. Not me. if I make it that long to go natural I'm just going out. hunting lions with a spear, talking smack to a woman during PMS, something highly dangerous I don't know.

Red

Basic healthcare is free here.
My wife and I both have additional insurances (part of our salary package) to cover for the things that aren't free.
Basic pensions are provided by the state. This is not a big amount, so both wife and I have additional pension plans.

Should one of us die, the mortage on the house is paid off entirely to allow the surviving parent to keep on living and supporting the children, which would otherwise become difficult.
We have fire insurance (which also includes storm etc).
We have 'familial' insurance (on't know the english word) which insures us financially against anything caused by us or our children, like damaging other people's property on accident. This one is not mandatory, but most people have it because it's cheap, and can mean the difference between bankruptcy or having a good laugh afterwards.

Car insurance is mandatory. You can have a lot of different options, but the basic one is that you are insured for the damage to other people's property and medical cost in case of an accident in which you are the 'guilty' party.
This is actually one for which I support the fact that it is mandatory. Most people are not able to pay for such things out of their own pocket. If they were allowed to drive without insurance, People would risk being caught up in an accident for no fault of their own, and then bankrupted for life if the scum that drove into them can't repay the medical costs. The roads are public, and the privilege to use them comes with the price of having to have your financial responsibilities in order in case of an accident.

As for my parents... They have most of those things too. The house is paid off. If genes are anything to go by, my father will die a lot earlier than my mother, who will probably make it to her late 90s if the rest of the family is an reference. She will also live at home until she is very old.