My toddler isn’t the only 2-year-old in the house anymore, Life, Love and the Pursuit…
I’m Not Ready To Go
Financial planning isn’t sexy. It’s definitely on the list of things that you don’t talk about on the first date, along with politics and religion. If you’re anything like me you also don’t talk about it on the second date, the proposal or wedding day for that matter. That’s when you wake up and realize that your newly minted spouse’s 10 years of education and 3 degrees don’t pay for themselves. Neither does the car or the shiny rock on your finger that you still haven’t quite gotten used to. But hey, you’re young. You’ve got tons of time to pay off debts, build an RRSP and invest. You have a fantastic 6 year plan that will set you on the path to financial success. You’ve thought of everything!
Except I hadn’t. Except my first child was born with a critical illness, and my husband lost his job. Except I decided to build a business from scratch and my father passed away. I could never be emotionally ready to have my minutes old baby taken from my arms, and then from the hospital entirely, leaving me reeling until the news came that she was critically ill and needed life threatening surgery that she may or may not survive. I could never be emotionally ready for that call at 2am when my sister told me that my perfectly healthy and young father has suddenly passed away. Someone I called just a few days ago to share the story of how his granddaughter calls every passing motorcyclist and all the Lego men “Papa” was gone, completely without warning. I could never have been emotionally ready, but I could have been financially ready. So what do you do?
First of all, let’s decide that it’s not taboo to talk about financial planning. The number 1 thing that couples fight about is money. I say it’s time to flip that on it’s head and have regular date night conversations (not arguments) with your partner to talk about all things financial instead. If you aren’t sure where to start, take this quiz and consider inviting a financial advisor on your date to point you in the right direction. I took the quiz, and while we’re not one of the 28% of Canadians who are financially ready, we’re a far cry from where we were when we first said “I do”.
As the Trews so wisely stated (I’m sure their finances are in impeccable shape) “…there’s nothing wrong here, but I’m not ready to go!” Are you #LifeReady? Don’t wait, take 2 minutes to find out.
This post is sponsored by 360ACCESS on behalf of Manulife Financial. The opinions are my own.
It’s such a hard topic to talk about or prepare for, but the earlier the better. As soon as my husband (just bf at the time) and I purchased our first home together, my dad sat us down and went over life insurance with us. I feel so lucky that my parents are looking out for us. We have other financial planning to do, but that was a good start.