Troubles don't come with notice-Plan your future diligently

Several times I've come across individuals who refuse to take health insurance or are grossly under insured because they feel that they are very healthy and nothing can happen to them. "No one in our family has ever gone to the hospital. We all live very healthy life, so there is no need of a health insurance" is the standard answer I get.

This is not the only instance where we find individuals casual about turbulences. There are instances in other walks of life too. Individuals riding a two wheeler without helmet have standard argument, "I am just going to my friend's house nearby. The passage is very safe with hardly any traffic."

Families panic when they hear a likelihood of a epidemic during monsoon. They start boiling water, stop eating outside food and so on. This continues for a few days. Once the news about epidemic recedes, everyone's back to their routine of eating junk and casual attitude towards home hygiene. Similarly when we hear about early death, we rush to purchase life insurance. When we visit hospital and see a family struggling with medical expenses, we realize the value of health insurance and call our agent. In the same manner, once these emergencies go away from the limelight our interests towards insurance fizzles out. Just because a particular turbulence did not hit us this time we feel it will not harm us in future as well.

The reasoning for above behavior is conditioning of mind. We refrain from preparing for turbulences because as human beings we do not like to think of unfavorable situations. Purchasing life insurance reminds us of death. Thinking of health insurance premium makes our mind wander in hospital and preparation of WILL brings memory of death. Even though deep down we ourselves know such eventualities can happen, we prefer living in denial by saying it cannot happen to me or it may not happen that soon and hence I have time.

The fact is turbulences and accidents don't arrive by giving prior notice. However when they occur they have a potential to distort our entire life. Equally true is the fact that not all untoward incidences that occur in universe would affect us in major way; hence we cannot continue to live in fear. We have to take a balanced approach.

There are some perils whose impact can be reduced, if proper precautions are taken. These could be in any walk of life. In financial life, the importance of contingency fund, 'sufficient' health, and life insurance, ensuring nominations are in place, making an appropriate WILL, updating contact and bank details with all the financial institutions on regular basis, storing and filing important financial documents. These are some of the precautions worth taking. Over the years as a financial planner, I have witnessed several families whose financial well being or ill fate was not necessarily the quantum of wealth they owned, but rather a lack of precautions they could easily observed beforehand.