IT isn't terribly important how we start any journey, project or even life. What is of greater significance is how we end.
Susan Ertz, the late novelist, once observed: "Millions long for immortality, who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." I find her words funny and profound.
Cultural anthropologist and author Mary Catherine Bateson wrote: "The timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it." Bateson, too, is right.
While we don't know the timing of our eventual demise, we can do much to craft a life worth living all the way to its conclusion.
Note: In the broader scheme of things, we don't have that much time.
Think about it, we'll all be dead for longer than we get to live. Most of us will have sub-century mortal seasons to figure out the meaning of our lives.
A friend asked me recently: What is the purpose of life?
I thought before replying, "To help as many people as we can while we walk on Earth."
My off-the-cuff response satisfied her, and continues to make sense to me. Think of the world altering legacies left by titans like Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Einstein. Then consider the abhorrent legacies of Adolph Hitler, Idi Amin and, now, Vladimir Putin.
And what about those of us who aren't players on the global stage? What type of legacy can we leave? What shall we, through the wise management of our lives and our material resources, do for those we love?
Looking through the high-powered lens of the financial planning process, we could focus on putting our house in order in the separate dimensions of Wealth Protection, Wealth Accumulation and Wealth Distribution.
WEALTH PROTECTION
We should buy adequate health insurance like critical illness (CI) and hospital and surgical (H&S) cover so medical emergencies don't wipe us out. A related reason to own sufficient CI and H&S insurance is to not financially crater those willing to sacrifice any amount of money to try and make us well again should illness or injury strike, when we lack the resources to pay for treatment.
We purchase CI and H&S policies for personal health scares. They help us take care of ourselves. And we should buy the correct amount of death coverage using life insurance and personal accident (PA) policies, IF we are not yet wealthy enough to be self-insured.
We purchase life insurance and PA policies to safeguard others, specifically to protect their economic well-being should we die prematurely.
WEALTH ACCUMULATION
Most of us know from different personal experiences what it is to have too little money and also to have enough. (Very few of us will ever admit to others or even ourselves that we have too much money.)
So, let's just agree it is better to have more than enough wealth than too little. Over our productive decades, we accumulate our wealth through four steps:
1. Earning money;
2. Not spending all our money;
3. Saving some money; and
4. Investing some money.
Frankly, the bulk of my work as a licensed financial planner involves advising my clients on all those steps, and helping them manage Steps 2, 3 and 4.
Because most of us are gregarious non-hermits, it is understandable and natural for us to accumulate wealth not merely for ourselves, but for our families and, sometimes, for targeted slices of our community.
I have written most extensively on Wealth Accumulation because of curiosity, passion, interest and frankly, catalysing scarcity. So, if you would like to dip into more of my material on this subject, you may read all or some past Money Thoughts columns — that most interest you — at www.nst.com.my/authors/rajen-devadason.
Note: Money is neither intrinsically evil or good. It is, however, a powerful magnifier of who we are inside. Since most of us aspire to do good — but most likely on a tinier scale than Lincoln, Gandhi and Einstein, while vehemently reviling the actions of human scum like Hitler, Amin and Putin — we could proactively choose to do good with our money, both while we're alive and after we're dead.
WEALTH DISTRIBUTION
While we are alive, we can plan "today" to distribute our unconsumed wealth after we're gone "tomorrow". We may do so with an ironclad, carefully crafted, professionally written will. In general, this should be updated every five years or so to reflect our evolving priorities, obligations, likes and loves.
And for those with immense wealth, additionally establishing a private trust, also called a "living trust", through a reputable estate-planning company will help extend the reach of our wealth up to a maximum — based on current Malaysian legislation — of 80 years from the establishment of the trust.
So, while this year is still new, do carve out a chunk of 2023 to carefully and intentionally figure out how to die well, but, God willing, a long time from now.
If you succeed in crafting and then implementing your plan, do know that doing so will augment your positive legacy and morph into a source of immense comfort because you will, truly, be living well.
© 2023 Rajen Devadason
Rajen Devadason, CFP, is a securities commission-licensed Financial Planner, professional speaker and author. Read his free articles at www.FreeCoolArticles.com; he may be connected with on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/rajendevadason, or via rajen@RajenDevadason.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @Rajen Devadason and on YouTube (Rajen Devadason).