What's Your Safety Net?

Everyone needs a safety net. What’s your safety net? That is, who or what can you rely on in an emergency of any kind?

Your safety net will be different for a major emergency or a minor emergency. A major emergency is usually a major medical event. Minor emergencies are all the irritating negative situations that happen occasionally- a car breaking down, a bounced check, etc. They are serious, but usually with short-term effects and consequences.

What is your safety net for each of those situations? We can rely on family and friends for minor situations- as long as it’s not too often 😁- and many people have an emergency fund of some sort. Another strong safety net for many people is the support they can get from their church or religious community. Those are great safety nets, but they work best for minor emergencies.

So for many people, their safety net for major emergencies is… just… themselves and their own savings. That’s not super comforting, though; while being self-reliant is an excellent trait, having yourself as a safety net has a couple of big drawbacks. First, it takes time; you need to take time to save up the money you’ll need for an unexpected situation. Second, personal savings is a shaky foundation for a safety net; the “unexpected situation” can be far more expensive than you had thought or planned for. And third, well, let’s be real- once you’ve saved up a lovely pile of money, you’re going to have plans for it other than “paying for an emergency, someday”. So if you ever do need to use that savings for an emergency… what are you going to do about the other financial goals that you really wanted that money for?!

And all that begs the question of: what other options do you have, if all of these options aren’t quite good enough to really protect you in a major emergency? Well, I’m going to introduce a new safety net to you: Living Benefits. For a few dollars a day- far less expensive than you would think- you will have an instant cash reserve that will provide you everything you need to get through a major medical event.

80% of Americans will live through a major medical event; that means that if you don’t suffer one, then your partner/child/family member most definitely will. Give yourself the gift of a safety net that will help you eliminate financial distress, when you would have so many other things on your plate to deal with at such a difficult time. Imagine this scenario:

Ernesto and his wife were young, building a business and trying to start a family at the same time. It was stressful. Ernesto started feeling sick, but chalked it up to stress; there was too much to do and not enough hours in the day. It got bad enough that he went to the doctor, and he was eventually diagnosed with end-stage renal disease- Ernesto needed a kidney transplant yesterday.

What would Ernesto’s life look like with Living Benefits? They would be able to pay their mortgage and all their bills on time, throughout his treatment; Ernesto’s wife would be able to take time off work to be his caretaker, perhaps even hiring a nanny to help with the baby or an at-home nurse to help Ernesto. Ernesto’s treatment and recovery would be incredibly stressful and difficult, but they would never have worried about losing their home or any other aspect of their finances.

But what really happened is this: (Ernesto is a coworker of mine at Five Rings, and I have permission to share his story.) Ernesto is alive and well now, with a donor kidney hard at work for him, but he and his wife didn’t have Living Benefits. They suffered financially, while they were suffering emotionally and him physically- at one point they had to choose between buying diapers and paying the mortgage.

Ernesto and his wife want one thing, going forward- for everyone to know that Living Benefits exist; that they pay more claims on Living Benefits than any other type of claim; and that everyone needs them. Look into Living Benefits today- it could save your future.

Now That’s Smart Money 🧐