Covering A Prepper’s Blind Spot

I have no idea if an electromagnetic pulse is coming.  I can’t speak to the odds of a major Ebola outbreak, nuclear war, hyperinflation, solar storms or a herd of pissed off sasquatches auditing the fed.  No one does, and that’s the point.

By Professor Liberty Mize

We can’t speak to the timing or likelihood of any of this, so we build contingencies, deal in the known, plan, pray and hope we are ready.  They call us preppers, survivalist and nutjobs but we don’t care because we are all about managing risk.  Despite this, in terms of protecting our families many of us are still dropping the ball.

Contingencies For Contingencies

We may have stockpiles of freeze dried food, generators and bug out plans.  Some of us have 1000s of rounds of ammo, 40 cases of ass-wipe and mattresses stuffed with gold doubloons.  Yet with all of this focus on planning; several obvious scenarios are still being ignored.

First, there is a chance you could die prior to the apocalypse.  Sounds improbable I know, yet it could happen, and a full 55% of us will do so without a will or estate plan in place.  This means upon your passing not only will your wife suddenly be open for business; but your heirs will be forced into the lengthy, expensive and public process known as probate.  I assure you this is not a legacy you want to leave.  Worse yet, if your spouse isn’t around and you happen to have minor children, you’ll be leaving their care and futures in the hands of the courts to decide.

Survivalists do what they do to leave themselves options and outs.  It is all about planning, preparing and readiness.  We must also apply this to our finances.  Without a will you leave your family no outs.  Worse yet, you end up ceding control of your affairs to some of the very institutions you despise most.  Are they going to endanger your kids?  Not knowingly, but if you don’t state your intentions, you are leaving a lot up in the air.

Nursing Home Blues

Secondly, consider the very real possibility you end up with a nursing home stay or long term care event where you are licking windows while wearing a rubber helmet.  If you believe the stats, roughly two-thirds of us can expect one at some time or another.  The cost of this stay will likely run in the $50-90k a year range.   If you haven’t already experienced this with a family member, count yourself lucky.  It is an intensely unpleasant experience.

Even the best run facilities are soul-crushingly depressing.  They bleed families dry both emotionally and financially and once the patient runs out of money, they are left a virtual ward of the state.  Medicare and other programs provide some level of care, but with that care also comes control.    Do you really want to dump your life savings in healthcare costs then suckle up to the crowded government teat?

Starve the Beast

With baby boomers dropping out of the workforce every day and Barak Hussein’s overhaul of healthcare I assure you costs are going nowhere but up and level of care is going nowhere but down.  The warehousing of our elderly is real and is only going to get worse.

I for one want to starve the beast known as the federal government, not sit by and let it subjugate me.  Nor do I long to be a contributor to the immoral debt we are leaving to our heirs.  So despite being just over 40 I carry long term care insurance.  It’s unlikely I’ll have a claim, but it’s cheap and it’s peace of mind that I won’t end up part of the problem.

So now is the time where I tell you that it’s national “make a will month” and I am a financial planner and invite you into my office.  Only I’m not.  I’m just a guy like you who knows the government can’t solve my problems and isn’t counting on them to.  And I’m inviting you to join me and put first things first.  If you fancy yourself a planner, get off your ass and plan.  The zombie apocalypse is a maybe; some version of death and old age are an absolute.

Photos by:
Thinboyfatter
Derrick Tyson

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