Boss Blog: April 19, 2017
What do you want your GoFundMe Page to say?????
Recently a friend of mine traveled to Oregon, USA to unite her daughter with a young boy and an old dog named Rowdy. The purpose of the trip was to allow her daughter to meet Rowdy before he died. Rowdy is a 14-year-old Black Lab from Canby, Oregon with health issues. Where the story gets interesting is that Rowdy, Ava (a 10-year-old girl from London, Canada), and Carter (an 8-year-old boy from Arkansas) are all afflicted with the same rare skin disorder, Vitiligo. It is an autoimmune disease that causes patches of your skin to lose their pigmentation. Worse than the affliction itself, is the emotional and psychological issues it causes. Self-esteem becomes difficult when a young person experiences bullying. Kids can be cruel to someone who is “different.” As someone with an auto-immune condition (Ulcerative Colitis), I know how difficult it can be. Niki (Rowdy’s owner) had the amazing idea to bring Carter (Arkansas, USA) and Ava (London, ON, Canada) to meet Rowdy in Oregon. She started a GoFundMe page in order to raise donations to make this happen. The response was amazing! They raised over $8,000 and the dream of bringing Ava and Carter to Oregon came true. Inside Edition, Local and National Media and even ESPN’s SportsCenter picked up the story. The heartwarming story went viral and rightfully so!
After donating to that cause, of which I was proud to do, I went browsing around Go Fund Me. I had heard about the site, some positive, some not so much. Great heartwarming stories like the Rowdy one always make me happy. People looking to receive funding for butt implants, not so much….. The ones that really make me worry are where families are looking for funds to care for or bury a loved one. When I say worry I don’t mean it is about the legitimacy of these people, please don’t get me wrong. My worry is sadness that comes from the fact that there are so many people unprepared for life’s unexpected issues. Death, illness, injury and drastic financial hardship can affect us all. The solution is easy, but not always thought of as sexy or fun. Almost every problem has a solution, often times it takes some forethought and planning.
Problem 1: Unexpected Death
Solution: Life Insurance
Outcome A:
-Family gets to stay in their home
-Children get to go to university as planned
-Parents don’t have to cover co-signed debts
-Family doesn’t have to cover final expenses
-Life goes on as planned after grieving period
Outcome B:
-Family forced to move out of home as they can’t afford mortgage
-Children don’t go to university
-Parents re-mortgage home to cover your debts that they co-signed
-Dip into the retirement fund to cover funeral
-Retire later than planned or not at all
-Lasting legacy of a death ruining many lives
Problem 2: Injury or Illness
Solution: Critical Illness, Disability Insurance, Long-Term-Care Insurance
Outcome A:
-Cancer strikes, injury/illness occurs, long-term-care needed
-50K lump sum compensation from Critical Illness insurance is received
-Monthly income from Disability Insurance is received
-Monthly Stipend from Long-Term Care insurance is received
-Ability to receive the best possible care is achieved
-Monthly bill payments are made, daily home-care from nurses is used for rehabilitation
-Retirement timeline and home ownership is maintained for the whole family
Outcome B:
-Cancer strikes, injury occurs, long-term-care needed
-No coverage is owned and family must pay out of pocket for best treatments
-Loss of income results in the inability to pay the newly re-mortgaged home
-Liquidating of all assets including any investments, home, and bank accounts
-Massive debts incurred, all life goals and dreams not achieved or diminished
Holy dramatic eh! Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble but that’s the reality. 1 in 3 people will experience critical illness (heart attack, stroke, cancer) in their lifetime. Even more, will experience a delay in their income due to injury or other illness. Sadly others will experience the premature death of a loved family member. Don’t believe me? Check out www.gofundme.com and you will be surprised. A lot of the faces in those pictures are young, formally healthy people. You get to a certain age and you start to lose friends. It’s sad but it is part of life.
In my industry, they say you haven’t made it in the industry until you delivered your first cheque. At the time when a family is hurting the most, you come with your hands open while everyone else has their hands out asking for money. I know I would rather deliver a cheque for 500K or file the paperwork for an injury/illness claim than donate $100 on GoFundMe for funeral arrangements. My $100 won’t save the family home or send little Cindy to college. What my $100 did do is help send little Ava and Carter to Oregon to meet a beautiful Black Lab named Rowdy. For that, I am proud, as I am about every Insurance policy I sell. The question you have to ask yourself is: “What do you want your GoFundMe page to say?”
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Joseph James Francis is a Financial Advisor. You can find him on various social media platforms and at www.budgetboss.ca.
https://www.gofundme.com/roadtorowdy