Protection From Hardship: Self Reliance Course Report 6

This course is now halfway over and continually getting deeper into practical application. This week was focused on time management and protecting ourselves and families from hardship.

Time Management

The lesson started out with some pondering on time and it’s meaning in our lives. I immediately thought of the book “Your Money or Your Life.” Time is the true currency of our lives. We discussed a good program for time management that anyone can easily adopt.

1. Each morning, list the tasks required of the day. Include the names of people you want to serve. Make this list without numbers, in random order.
2. Pray or even meditate about your upcoming day and the names on your list, and the things you have to do. If it suits you, commit to your Higher Power to do your best
3. Set priorities for your tasks. The most important task might by the 7th one down. Go through the list and assign each a number.
4. Work down the list throughout the day.
5. Review the list in the evening, pray or meditate on it, honestly give an account or assessment of how it went.
6. Repeat.

I’ve been trying to implement this into my life and it’s not going that great. My tasks at work and home shift dramatically based on how wound up the kids are. Getting kids through the bedtime routine can take insanely long and keep me from blogging as much as I’d like to. It’s difficult but I want to do better.

Protect Yourself and Your Family From Hardship

The discussion moved towards responsibilities towards our families. Even if a person is not married and doesn’t have kids, there are some things that should be done to protect your family. It all starts with coming up with a 1 month emergency fund. While I don’t like to leave cash laying around earning next to nothing, we typically have a month’s worth of spending in our main account. It’s at the point where it’s pretty even and we never get anything more than a months worth saved up. Anything that can be diverted towards investments is taken off the top.

Given the scary headlines showing that most American’s can’t afford a $400 emergency, it is probably in everyone’s best interest to build up an emergency fund ASAP. I think one of the easiest ways to do this is through microsaving or microinvesting. I personally use Worthy Bonds to round up my purchases automatically and invest them in a bond earning 5% interest (no fees).

Life Insurance

Life insurance was next on the list and having adequate term coverage is one of the smartest things you can do. Most employers offer cheap with a group discount, but you can sometimes find good deals outside of your employer. I’ve had good experiences with Mass Mutual and Haven Life (which is owned by Mass Mutual). Essentially, you want to have enough coverage to pay your debts and funeral costs if you are single. If you have a spouse or kids, you likely want much more coverage to provide for the family as they go through the grieving and sorting process. I can’t imagine being broke and having to get everything together while dealing with the emotions that come with the loss of a loved one.

If there are children you are responsible for, and one person is the primary breadwinner, they likely have insurance through their employer. It is important to get a policy on the stay at home parent. I know that if my wife passed away, I would have to pay out a lot for daycare and find a way to get things together to stay at my job. Having adequate coverage allows you time to reorganize your life and take the time you need to sort through things. Truthfully, we have enough life insurance on each other that if one of us died, the other would essentially be financially independent. I think that’s worth $500 a year.

Other Types of Insurance

It’s also worth reviewing employer coverage and potentially getting disability insurance beyond what the employer offers. You might want to check to make sure you have adequate property insurance. This is especially important if your home value has increased substantially the last few years. Shopping around yearly for insurance through sites like PolicyGenius is also highly recommended. You can often save hundreds of dollars per year just by making the rounds and getting some quotes. It’s easy money.

Depending on the size of your emergency fund and liquid assets, it is often worth raising your deductible in favor of lower premiums. My car insurance deductible is usually between $1000 and $1500, depending on the year. I know many people leave it around $500. I’ve saved well over $1000 over the years for driving carefully and having higher deductibles.

Conclusion

Take some time to evaluate the needs of your family. When was the last time you shopped for insurance? Did your term life policy expire? Would your current life or home insurance fall short of your family’s needs? I can’t think of a better gift to give your family than having these things figured out. Hopefully you’ll never need to use them, but if you do, make these tough situations as easy as possible.

We didn’t even get into wills, trusts, and healthcare proxy’s, I’ll save that for another post. What other ways are there to protect your family from tough situations?