When a storm hits, you cannot fully protect your home from everything. You can have the best shutters in the world, but if you lose shingles or soffit or worse, you will get water damage in your home. You simply cannot hedge every risk.
As the meme suggested, hurricanes don’t bother many Floridians all that much even though the storms are serious matters. We know how to deal with them. When one does come, being prepared helps. Don’t leave the patio furniture outside. Board your windows. Get out of the way and take with you your valuables, your insurance policy and the contact information for your agent and contractors you know are legitimate.
Of course, unlike market drops, we know when hurricanes are coming. That can bring some urgency to preparations, but preparation doesn’t stop the storm from coming and mitigates only some of the damage. Even though we know it is coming, our homes and lives will still be affected by a storm.
If these storms are so bad, why do we live here? Ironically, one reason is the weather. The majority of the time, it is great with pleasant temperatures most of the year. When it is hot, we go in the pool or to the beach. If we miss snow, we will go visit it, then return to paradise. Hurricanes that cause major damage are really not very frequent. Yet, people tell me they would never live down here because of the hurricanes. Just like I run into people who, despite the positive effects of prudent investing over the long term, won’t invest out of fear of the inevitable rough patches.
Preparation makes enduring the storm and recovering from its effects less difficult. To many of us with hurricane experience, it would be a shame to miss out on enjoying the many pleasant days not affected by storms out of fear for the relatively few a storm fouls up.
Clients can be in the same position with respect to their finances—prepared, less fearful and confident they can recover. They just need you to use your experience to help them get there.
Dan Moisand, CFP has been featured as one of America’s top independent financial advisors by Financial Planning, Financial Advisor, Investment Advisor, Investment News, Journal of Financial Planning, Accounting Today, Research, Wealth Manager and Worth magazines. He practices in Melbourne, Fla. You can reach him at [email protected].