What keeps you up at night? The Late Show, the party next door, crying babies, waiting for the kids to get home, that spicy meal and/or the weather? All of us have had trouble getting to sleep and many of us can relate to the list of things I just covered. Most of these things pass with time. Some other things stick with us. Consider the following concerns echoed by a survey of adults ages 35+.
What keeps you up at night?
48% |
Financial concerns |
42% |
Physical health changes |
21% |
Relationship issues |
15% |
Work worries |
| Source: Fantasies and Fears: Attitudes of Adults Ages 35-Plus, June 2016 | |
Financial concerns top the list followed by physical health challenges. In an earlier article, I shared some research on a link between losing a significant percentage of your wealth and early death. Worrying can make you sick and cause physical and emotional health problems. Worrying about money can lead to other issues.
What issues jump to the top of financial concerns for adults? Here are the top four, taken from the same study, "Fantasies and Fears; Attitudes of Adults Ages 35-Plus".
Biggest financial concern?
36% |
Paying for basic needs |
23% |
Saving enough for retirement |
19% |
Having enough money for emergencies |
12% |
Paying for health-care expenses |
| Source: Fantasies and Fears: Attitudes of Adults Ages 35-Plus, June 2016 | |
A comprehensive financial plan captures the goals you want to achieve, the lifestyle you want to have and the people you want to protect or provide for. |
I have frequently spoken and written about the importance of contingency planning, that is to say, planning for scenarios where the financial concerns listed here are more likely to crop up. If these things are your biggest financial concerns now, what happens when the breadwinner in your family is struck down by a critical illness, disability or death? How will your survivors make out financially, let alone emotionally?
A comprehensive financial plan captures the goals you want to achieve, the lifestyle you want to have and the people you want to protect or provide for no matter what. A funded plan that is regularly reviewed can make sure that the plans and solutions you put in place continue to do the job they were designed to do when you first set them up.
Sit down with an accredited advisor who can help you set up your personalized, funded plan or refine the one you have and stress test it to make sure it still works.
© 2019 by Peter Wouters. Republished with permission by Peter Wouters. For the complete list of articles, please visit here.
This blog reflects the views of the author as of the date stated. This information should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell nor should it be relied upon as investment, tax or legal advice. Empire Life and its affiliates does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the information contained herein in terms of its correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability, or otherwise, and does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage that results from its use.
July 2019