Tip of the Week June 24-July 1

Emergency Funds & Insurance

As if I haven't beaten this topic enough, I'm going to do it again. On average you have a major life event (job loss, major medical crisis, other very bad things that impacts your finances) at least once a decade. I knew we were due to have one and we did in the form of having our 3rd daughter. She was born 3 1/2 weeks early and ended up staying 2 weeks in the NICU. Facing massive medical bills we were so glad that we were prepared with the proper insurance and an emergency fund. We only ended up paying $770 of the $32,000 bill. As a bonus we made money because we had a supplemental maternity/hospital policy through Alfac. While this was originally purchased because we have a high deductible health insurance plan, I could never imagine how useful it ended up being. We didn't have to use our emergency fund to pay for hospital bills because it paid entirely for our portion until our max out-of-pocket was met.

While you may think everything is going well today. You are making good money, everyone is healthy, and life is good right now; everything and I mean EVERYTHING can change in the blink of an eye.

Homework:
If you don't have a plan for your money or are not actively working towards those goals, you are by default moving away from those goals. Being prepared for life doesn't just happen. Start or resume those plans today!