In life, you can never be too prepared – and your finances are generally the area that require more planning than anything else. Not only do you want to be prepared for yourself, but you want to ensure that your close family members will all be okay. Here are some tips on how to handle your finances at times of stress...
Divorce
In a divorce, it’s important to make sure that you protect yourself and your children. Even if you’re blindsided by it, go to a lawyer immediately – even if your spouse makes promises, chances are the promises won’t end up actually happening and that ultimately they’ll be selfish in the end. Don’t place any trust in them – if you’re getting divorced, chances are they aren’t the trustworthy person you once assumed they were anyway. Your first priority needs to be to contact a lawyer and protect your assets so you can get your financial future settled as soon as possible. If possible, try to keep away from going through the courts and go for mediation instead. Not only is it less unsettling and traumatic, but it will also be cheaper in the long run.
Bereavement
Losing one of your loved ones is one of the most traumatic things that can happen to you, so it’s important to make sure that their finances are in order, to prevent there being more issues somewhere down the line. If you know that your loved one sadly doesn’t have much time left, ensure that their will is clear and sorted out and that you’ve spoken to an accountant about it. You should also make sure that you have power of attorney, if they’re no longer capable of making their own decisions. You should ensure that you have a life insurance policy and that you have money put away for your own funeral for any worst case scenarios – we don’t know what’s around the corner and it’s important to put as little pressure on your family in a difficult situation as possible.
Ill Health In Your Family
Everyone’s nightmare scenario is ill health in your close family. Although it isn’t something you ever want to think about, it’s important that you’re prepared for every possibility. If you’re a parent, you’ll know that jobs with flexibility are key to your success at being a huge part of your everyday family life. This flexibility would be absolutely invaluable to you if you did have to factor the ill health of your family members into your working life, as your day to day would become considerably more unpredictable. In addition, you may feel the need to start working part time instead of full time. If you have a nest egg in the bank to break your fall if you do so, you’ll feel much more able to take whatever option feels right.
Residential Care
More and more these days, many countries across the world are experiencing ageing populations. Although it’s obviously a joy that people have their grandparents around for longer, it also becomes difficult when elderly people become too frail to live at home by themselves. If they have to go into residential care, it’s likely to be a traumatic situation both emotionally and financially for you. Aside from the guilt you may feel – which you should endeavour to put to one side, because you’re doing what’s best for your family – there are often a lot of financial implications. Talk to the manager of the residential home about the possibility of help from the state. In addition, if your loved one owns a home then you could either sell it and use the proceeds or rent it out to tenants to gain an income to pay the home fees.
Personal Injuries
If you have experienced a personal injury or illness, chances are it will affect your career negatively because of days of absence from the workplace and possible difficulties doing the job to the same extent that you did before your injury. If your workplace was one of the reasons that you got injured, talk to personal injury lawyers. If you’re looking for the best lawyers Gersowitz Libo & Korek would be a firm that you should look at - do some googling to find what’s best for you. It’s important that you get what you’re entitled to so that your future is made more safe and certain.
Parental Leave
What’s more important than spending as much time as you possibly can with your newborn baby? Forming that connection in your child’s earliest days is important to you, your partner and of course the baby itself. It will help you feel more confident about taking care of the baby by yourself in the future, and help you form a close and loving relationship in the long term. It’s important, then, to understand your company’s policy for parental leave. Every company – and indeed every country – has different rules, and if you’re planning to have a family this might be something that you want to take into account when accepting jobs. If you need to take unpaid parental leave, make sure that you’ve planned for it throughout the pregnancy. Making cutbacks like moving to a cheaper phone contract will be worth it for the connection you’ll form with your child.
Windfalls
Make sure you’re financially informed in the case of any windfalls that might happen to you, like big bonuses or inheritances. Of course, windfalls are generally very much welcome – but if you spend it on the wrong thing, you might end up regretting your actions pretty quickly. First of all, make sure that any credit card debts are paid off and that you’ve put a good sum of money away in the bank for a rainy day. The next thing that many people do is either save for a deposit for a house or pay off a chunk of their mortgage. Long term, this seems like the best option. Investing in property means that you’ll always have something concrete to show for your money – if you’ve received a larger sum, you could buy an investment property to rent out, meaning that you’ve turned your windfall into a regular salary.
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