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By way of a change, a few thoughts for people who are caught…

You’ve got cancer? 20 years ago people wouldn’t even say the word – it was the BIG C. These days, you can hardly open the newspaper without reading that someone famous has got it. Now it catches more than a quarter of the population, some of your friends, colleagues or family may have had it. And now you are in that group??

Researching this topic, I found lots of non-financial information, support and advice out there but very little financial material for people with cancer or other serious illnesses. This blog will try to plug that gap and involves asking yourself some big questions. First step is to do an audit or rather draw up your own balance sheet or set of accounts.

Any piece of paper will do for now but divide it into four sections.

First two are assets and liabilities – what you’ve got and what you owe.

Second two are income and expenditure – how much you earn and how much you spend

If you have avoided doing this for ages and don’t have a clue, get the information from your bank statements, but do it. This isn’t rocket science. If you take it slowly, step by step it is really quite easy and it helps you know where you stand financially. To be quite frank, if you cannot face doing this I doubt if this article is going to be of much benefit to you. As a last resort, get a friend or family member to help if you cannot face this exercise alone, but it is really important.

Next make a list of places you have worked and note which ones might have offered you a pension – possible if you worked there for > 2 years. Then make a list of insurance, savings or any other life policies you may have had. There are £billons of unclaimed policies out there which are sometimes called Orphan Assets. To make it even more silly, insurance companies are taxed on these. If the insurance or pension company has changed its name or been taken over, the ABI Association of British Insurers http://www.abi.org.uk/Search/default.asp will tell you the latest name or new owner.

If you have shares, make a list. You can get the prices from a newspaper or the internet.

As soon as you can, write to the companies concerned or broker if applicable and get the current value. With pensions, ask who the Nominated Beneficiaries are – the people who will get that pension benefit if you die before taking them. This may need updating especially if you have married or now have children, for example.

For most people in this country, their biggest asset is their home, their biggest debt is their mortgage while the largest pool of money with their name on it is their pension.

Now the biggest question…..How long have you been given or what are your chances?? Will you be able to continue working? Will you be able to travel or drive a car? Will you need care? Who might be able to help you?

If you have > two years, then you might as well carry on as normal for as long as possible. I really do love stories where people confound the medics and carry on for years after they were told they would be dead, but attitude here plays a large part. Having always had an interest in aviation, I have never forgotten the stories of an early aviation pioneer who took up flying in the early twentieth century, as his doctors told him he had < a year to live. He was still going strong years later.

Another interesting story is that of Dilys Gannon who was given 4 months to live at one point   http://www.colonichydrotherapyuk.com/dylis-story.htm  Her reaction upon her diagnosis was to buy a plane ticket! And > 10 years on she is alive, healthy and with a thriving practice of the treatment that helped her.

You can even buy life insurance for yourself on-line which will pay out provided you live for two years.

People with < average life expectancy can get higher annuity rates for their pension so don’t buy any annuities without checking this. A broker can really help you here.

But if you have < two years to live, it is time to think. There is nothing sadder than dying thinking If only  …………..but strangely, a short life expectancy may enable you to achieve one or two of your goals, that you might not have bothered about otherwise.

Take another piece of paper, and write some headings: People, Things, Places. You might want to adapt this with headings like: Family, Colleagues, Hobbies, Sports.

Now the fun part, and yes I mean you ought to be able to get some enjoyment out of this. What have you always wanted to do? Learn to swim properly? Who or where have you always wanted to visit? Do the tango in Argentina? What bands or entertainers do you like but have never seen live? Pretend you have won the Lottery and let your mind run free here and don’t bother about the practicalities. Keep the list handy and a notepad and pencil with you so you can write things down as they pop into your mind.

It does not matter how long the list is or how many items are on it. Once you have done the above exercises you will have:

* A financial picture of you. How Much?

* Your doctors have told how long you have got and what quality of life you can expect for that time. How Long?

* A list of everything you wanted to achieve. What, who or maybe How Many?

Now it is a simple process of rationalising it and seeing what is achievable within your financial resources. Again this is not rocket science. Put the list on the fridge door or carry a copy with you. The human mind is quite capable of rationalising a long list like this and the things that you can do will make themselves known.

Wish I could say the above was my own invention, but my friend and time management guru Mark Forster beat me to it with his AutoFocus System http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/ N.B. I had to watch this video three times over a number of days before the penny really dropped.

However, achieving some of the goals will need money, but you may have > you think, which is the real point behind this exercise. The cherries on the cake here can be pensions & life policies.

Critical Illness Benefit is king of the hill here and the lump-sum will be paid after the claim paperwork has been done and checked. The case mentioned in my 30 January 2009 blog http://www.georgeemsden.co.uk/2009/01/a-bolt-from-the-blue-barack-obama/paid out this week i.e. after 3 months

Many life insurance policies have Terminal Illness Benefit. This means that if your life expectancy is < 12 months, they will pay out while you are alive. N.B. This will depend on what answers your GP gives to the insurance company.

Policies which have Waiver of Premium Benefit will be kept in force by the insurance company if you are ill for > 6 months.

You may be able to sell the (life) policy to a specialist broker who will give you a discounted part of the amount insured – something that is common in America.

Pensions can be paid out in cash tax-free where life expectancy is a year or less which can seriously improve the quality of life for the short time left. Whether this happens or not, again will depend on the answers given by your doctor. See previous blog http://www.georgeemsden.co.uk/2009/02/home-is-where-the-heart-is/

The cash can help pay for travel, adapting your home, paying for extra care if you need it, that balloon flight you have always wondered about, visiting family in Australia or far away, see that old school friend or whatever you have wanted to do but somehow were too busy….

Important point here is that the above exercise can make you feel that you are back in control of your life again, at least for while and make your last days more fulfilling and happier than they might have been.

Acknowledgements: Phil Calvert for the original idea http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=53930 Mike Southon for helping me develop it http://www.beermat.biz/ Rhidian Jones for adapting the text to podcast style  http://r2m.agi-emerald.co.uk/page/Management_Team and soundman Johnny Mindlin for recording and editing it  http://www.green-shoot.co.uk/