Shedding Light on the Worst Case Scenario

It happens.  Thankfully, not often, but the worst case scenario happens.  What if, instead of letting it scare us, we took some of the sting out of the possibility by preparing  ahead of time, you know, just in case? As long as it doesn’t cost us much time or money or relationship strength, wouldn’t the peace of mind we get in the present – knowing we are going to be ok – be worth it?

A friend of mine in her 40s lost her husband to a terminal illness. He was considered terminally ill for a decade, and they fought the disease like champions. As such, they focused on life, not death.  They talked about his death enough to have the big picture covered (their solid belief in Heaven), but they never addressed the logistical details of his passing because doing so would have been akin to letting the illness win.

When the end was near, they talked about how his body was shutting down, but he was in no physical shape to discuss logistics: funeral, burial, account passwords, etc.  Instead, those last days were comprised of moments that needed to last, expressing love, reliving memories, and emphasizing the ingredients of his legacy.

And in that situation, from an academic and financial planning perspective, they spent their last days together doing precisely the “right” thing.  Life transitions are already rife with emotion and weighty moments.  It’s a particularly bad time to discuss logistics.

Which is why, if you’re waiting for some sort of life event – a diagnosis, a divorce, a retirement  – to trigger the creation of your JustInCase file (or some other method of passing the necessary details of your life to your surviving family), I would like to tenderly suggest you may be missing the point. You’re not alone, I was the same way.  I had the file in my possession for months before I actually sat down and completed it.

But the best time to get picky about the details of how you run your life is now.  “Down the road” may be a more convenient time, but it may not afford you the luxury of talking about the picky stuff.  That luxury is really only an option for you before an unexpected life transition.

Besides, the exercise of filling-in your JustInCase file will help you focus on the aspects of your life you would like to improve upon.  Read my post, “It’s not about your death, it’s about how you live,” if you want to learn more about the idea.

Part of our avoidance in this area revolves around the myriad “What if?”s, or what I call “dark places.”  Since we currently have no clue what to do in the hypothetical worst-case scenario, we would rather not talk about it.  It’s as if avoiding the subject protects us from that possibility. This belief is common and understandable, but it’s completely irrational, right?

I’ll conclude this post with the same loaded question I ask so often, “What are you waiting for?”  Is it a matter of having the time?  This file shouldn’t take more than about 2 hours to complete.  Is it the money? A JustInCase file costs $10.

All I know is if you’re waiting for a “trigger” to motivate your getting your affairs in order, it may be too late.  And in the meantime, you will sleep better at night knowing you shed some light in the dark places rather than trying to deny they exist.

Looking for more suggestions on ways to improve your financial health? Check out my other blog posts about Women and Money.