Avoid the Potholes

Extreme pothole

Even saints cuss when they hit a sizable pothole. They know they may face a major realignment and that the bump on their head may take a few days to go down.

Well, potholes exist in the world of finance; and they go beyond the setting up of a strong investment program.  Two that come readily to mind are law suits and long-term care.  Law suits can be handled with umbrella insurance, which is relatively inexpensive and should cover you for your net worth.  After all, if you are sued in today's society, many times they will go after everything you are worth.  Because it is inexpensive, people readily pick it up from their auto insurer.  If you don't have it, look into it.

Long-term care insurance is a bit stickier because it is expensive, its cost keeps rising, and the various options are hard to analyze.  It is one of those areas where people find it easy to procrastinate.  Paying a lot for something you may never need is understandably difficult, especially for those who don't have a sizable nest egg.  On the other hand, for those with a sizable nest egg, they can weigh the possibility of self insuring.

Whether to pick up long-term care insurance and exactly what to get is a difficult decision.  But long term does have a real potential for upsetting the apple cart.  Discussing it with a financial planner is a good idea for many people.

Here is a really good blog post from The Investment Fiduciary, "The reward of a financial advisor," that may persuade you.  Read the first comment as well.