Says Fingerman, “The word ‘planning’ typically does not resonate so we call ourselves financial ‘coaches.’ We’ve prevented foreclosures, helped create estate plans, helped patients file their taxes and found them various resources. But many times, listening to their story is the best we can do. Even when we can’t do much, it has still been among the most rewarding work I’ve ever done.”
Cancer is such a personal matter that in most cases pro bono services are most effective through a one to one match. At Dana Farber, a social worker notes the financial concerns and tries to pair the family with a financial planner that would be a good fit based on that family’s facts and circumstances.
The pilot succeeded, and the program was expanded. Hundreds of families have received free coaching from FPA of MA members. More programs are developing in other areas of the country.
We all go through life seeking some balance but when a cancer diagnosis hits, that effort is crushed.
“There is no plan for cancer,” explained one lady that worked with Family Reach, a 501(c)(3) organization that has received grants from the Foundation for Financial Planning, the financial planning profession’s foundation and the only organization exclusively devoted to supporting pro bono financial planning programs for people in need. Family Reach assists families with a child or parent afflicted with cancer and provided people to speak about the issue for a video for the foundation.
“You are in a fog until someone knocks on the door and says, ‘Hey, you owe us,’” said another video participant.
Balance? No way, according to the video, “Life stops for us, but it doesn’t. Life is still going on and the bills are still coming in.”
Can financial planners really make a difference? Yes, they can.
The National Cancer Institute says that studies show physiological stress—what people feel when they are under mental, physical or emotional pressure—can affect a tumor’s ability to grow and spread. “Studies in mice and in human cancer cells grown in the laboratory have found that the stress hormone norepinephrine, part of the body’s fight-or-flight response system, may promote angiogenesis and metastasis.”
A study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (Sood, 2010) showed that stress hormones can directly support tumor growth and spread.