Mike Tyson once said “everybody’s got a plan until you get punched in the mouth”. In other words, a boxer has a game plan for how he is going to win the fight until he receives a punch and become disorientated. And he was spot on with what he said. We can make all these plans for life but what happens when we get punched in the mouth? (not literally!).
Fortunately, as humans we are very adaptable creatures. We may not be happy with it but when there is a change in her own circumstances, we are able to change your lifestyle as our environment has changed.
Whether it is a change in our financial situation or personal life or situations outside of our control such as stock market volatility, increases in taxes or even unemployment, we are able to adjust well. Usually, we change our lifestyles and reducing expenditure. Some of the situations can be completely unknown and is it not possible to plan for every eventuality. But we can position ourselves where those adjustments are a bit easier to bear.
That preparation can be having an emergency fund to provide a source of income if you become unemployed or you need access to cash to fix a leaky roof or your car needs repairs (I dropped my car in for a service recently and it cost me €2,500 to get it fixed! Ouch! It came straight out of the emergency fund!).
Then there is disaster planning. What if your spouse dies prematurely? Remember, anyone can be in an accident at any time. Or if you are suddenly unable to work for a long time due to an accident or illness? Will you be able to pay the bills and live a decent life? You can get an insurance company to assume this risk in return for paying them a monthly premium.
There will of course do you situations that you cannot insure against or even plan for such as separation divorce an unexpected child. A new home will be required in the former and maybe a bigger one in the latter.
So how prepared are you if life throws you a curve ball? Do you think you be able to adjust to fall in income or a sudden sudden large expense. What do you need to do so that you could adopt that easily to a change in your personal circumstances. How long do you think you would take for you to bit of everything in place.
Drop me an email at steven@bluewaterfp.ie and let me know.