BY BRAD BRAIN
A bit of bad news for the Brain household. My teenage son, the hockey player, broke his wrist.
As a former high school athlete, I can confirm that this is indeed devastating news. He is out of action for 4 to 6 weeks. He will miss most, or even all, of the rest of the regular season. Hopefully he will be able to return in time for the playoffs.
As unwelcome as the broken bone is, this is a temporary situation. Inconvenient, yes. Painful, yes. Disruptive, yes. But not permanent. Not life changing.
Still, though, when this happened there were implications. Events were set in motion on a Monday morning when the team’s athletic therapist confirmed he needed x-rays. So, my kid is off from school. And he needs a ride to emergency, which means someone is taking time off work. Then the typical 8-plus hour wait in the hospital emergency room to see the doctor. In the days that follow there are more medical appointments. More missed school. More time off work for the caregivers.
And this was just for a broken bone. My son is going to be fine.
But imagine if he wasn’t.
What if when my kid went into the emergency ward the doctor had a totally different diagnosis? What if instead of the family members passing the time on their phones in the emergency waiting room, the news was it is a medivac flight to Children’s Hospital?
If something really bad was to happen to my kid, do you think that I would be operating as normal? Do you think if my kid was hospitalized that I would be sitting in my office, doing the work that pays the bills?
Obviously not.
Unfortunately, I can tell you from firsthand experience if that terrible phone call comes that my kid has been hurt, I will drop everything I am doing without any hesitation whatsoever. I have had it happen before. I was at the hospital before the ambulance arrived.
Okay, Brad Brain, we’re happy that your kid is going to be alright, but what does this have to do with a column on finances?
Everything.
Like virtually all of you, if I am not at work my personal income slows. Eventually it would stop.
So if I have a sick kid, or sick spouse, or sick parent, or any other sick loved one, and I am at their hospital bedside, and the implication (which is at the same time both initially far less important, but also eventually inescapable) is that my income is reduced, and perhaps even severed completely, how do I pay my three mortgages? How do I pay my staff? How do I pay my kid’s hospital bills, or the hotel and restaurant bills that I will incur to be near their side?
Most people recognize that insuring the income of the family breadwinner is clearly a good idea. In my own situation, if I was to be run over by a drunk driver, or contracted prostate cancer, or lost my eyesight my family’s income would shrink by as much as 99.9%. My bills wouldn’t shrink by 99.9% though. And that’s why I gladly pay the premiums my own personal life insurance, critical illness insurance, and disability insurance premiums every year.
What I’m talking about here, though, isn’t about insuring the family’s income in case the breadwinner gets sick. I’m talking about insuring the family’s income in case the non-income earning spouse gets sick. Or, God forbid, your kid gets sick.
Shortly after my first child was born I added a rider to my own critical illness insurance policy that would pay me a tax-free lump sum payment of $50,000 if she was diagnosed with a covered critical illness.
I did this as the new and proud parent of a wonderful, healthy and happy daughter, but also recognizing, from a purely financial perspective that my family’s financial situation would be jeopardized if something were to happen to my child.
In later years I bought additional polices for my kids when it became clear to me that only having them covered on a rider was not as much protection as I wanted.
The odds of contracting a critical illness are mind-blowing. 1 in 2 males and 1 in 3 females will have heart disease. 1 in 2.3 males and 1 in 2.6 females will develop cancer. And serious medical conditions can also have serious financial implications.
Terrible things don’t only happen to grown men. Protect your family’s finances from bad things happening. To any member of the family.
Brad Brain. CFP, R.F.P., CIM, TEP is a Certified Financial Planner in Fort St John, BC. This material is prepared for general circulation and may not reflect your individual financial circumstances. Brad can be reached at www.bradbrainfinancial.com.