Personal risk management review: identifying areas of possible loss and making decisions that will produce the greatest chance of successful outcomes.
Following are four losses that we must all face, ways to address these losses and decisions we will need to make to produce positive outcomes.
Loss #1: excessive dollars spent on healthcare.
Discipline: Maintain a healthy lifestyle to minimize the future cost of care for chronic diseases.
Decision: Will eating that donut really help lower my cholesterol level?
Loss #2: unnecessarily high premiums spent on health insurance.
Discipline: Set aside money to cover higher deductibles and thus reduce premium costs.
Decision: Will the money that I will definitely not pay to the insurance company be enough to risk what I may have to spend in healthcare costs? Am I prepared to negotiate charges and shop the cost of services?
Loss #3: unpredictable cost of care as we age
Discipline: Remain as active as possible both physically and mentally to keep our joints lubricated and our neurons firing. Set aside money for future care needs when we our bodies will become victims of physical wear and tear.
Decision: How can we fund the costs that we will incur when we are no longer able to care for ourselves?
Loss #4: possibility that we will run out of money in retirement
Discipline: Increase the percentage of our income that we contribute into our retirement plans each year. Small increases will barely be missed and will have the possibility of multiplying to have a major impact in later years.
Decision: How much can I give up now and where would I best put it to strive for a much less stressful future?
There are many more questions that need to be addressed as we assess our personal risk. The list above comes from our decades of work counseling individuals and companies about their health insurance costs. Addressing them sooner rather than later will truly produce the greatest chance of successful outcomes. Contact us at Czajkowski Dumpel & Associates Inc. to start the conversation – we are here to help you manage your risk.