Preparing for Disasters: Stuff Happens

I am going to keep these short…the older I get, the more precious time becomes. So here we go…

Personal opinion…I think most of us are horrible at planning for disasters. What do I mean? I mean that we all know darn well that disaster will strike everyone of us, but most of us wait until it strikes to do anything about it.

Current example in our house. Turns out that my pretty-good-looking teeth are in need of a bunch of work…IF I want to keep them to the finish line. What does “a bunch of work” mean…well, it means about $50,000 worth of work over the next two years. How could that be? A couple of implants, re-work of all my caps and a bridge or two, a few root canals, straighten some bottom teeth…ka-ching…it all adds up.

Now, let’s take a peek into my “Dental Disaster Contingency Funds”. Zero point zero.

If you are young and wonder how it is that people end up with dentures…this is how they end up with dentures. Or, they just let the teeth go until they start to drop out one by one. Or, they just suffer. Or, if they have the funds to do so, they go to a foreign country and, hopefully, get their work done at a more reasonable price by a reasonably talented dentist or dental student or want-to-be dental student.

I am one of the lucky ones…I actually have money saved up for disasters…not specifically, but disasters in general. So, in about two years time, I will have a decent looking set of teeth that should be able to chew through re-bar and last me to the finish line. How about you?

Just part of the living experience…extended into our retirement years…the every-so-often complete financial disaster. Could be your car dies, the house floods, you need costly medical or dental care, insurance premiums go up (my medical insurance just increased 307%), the refrigerator no longer refridges or you have to go all the way across the country to attend your grandkids wedding…stuff happens.

That is the point for this blog…STUFF HAPPENS. Prepare for it. You will be glad you did.

Aloha,

Don Hurzeler