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Index Of The Seven Deadly Sins Links:
Although popularized by the epic poem, The Divine Comedy
The version I am using as the basis of this series of posts will date back to the 6th Century AD using the nomenclature of the Catholic Pope, Gregory the Great.
These sins are ordered from the least deadly to the most egregious (and this series of posts will follow the same ordering).
The fourth Deadly Sin was coined Acedia (later donning the name of Sloth)
Sloth’s modus operandi is primarily one of inertia.
“Thou seest how sloth wastes the sluggish body, as water is corrupted unless it moves.”- Ovid
As humans we tend to become complacent as we develop a routine of day to day living which we rarely deviate from.
As such, we often do not act on information even though we know it is in our best interest to do so.
Why?
Because it deviates from the plan and requires effort.
As we try to be good stewards of our money with thoughts of building a financial legacy there are multiple important actions that need to be completed:
- You need an investment policy statement.
- You need to create a budget to build your financial dam.
- You need to be properly insured against the unexpected:
- Life insurance, Disability insurance, Car Insurance, Umbrella Insurance, Health Insurance, Malpractice Insurance
- You need an up to date beneficiary designation.
- You need to have a will drawn up.
- If you are a high net worth individual you need an estate plan/trust formation.
These are the gold standard items in any sound financial plan.
How many do you have in place?
I myself have fallen victim to the sin of Sloth in this matter.
I have completed the entire list except for the estate plan/trust formation.
I know I should create an estate plan due to my net worth and to avoid probate court which could siphon a percentage of my assets in fees as well as the time it ties these assets up before being distributed to my intended heirs.
But as of this moment, I have yet to act on this.
Why?
Sloth.
It is so much easier for me to go about my daily activities and postponing this last important step because, “I can always do it later.”
The problem with that line of thinking is if something were to happen to me before this future date (which keeps getting pushed into the future), my mistake will become permanent.
Many a time I have read a financial blog thinking that is sound advice and I should act upon it, but soon find that it falls by the wayside as Sloth and inertia are too powerful to break free from.
I remind myself that it has been several weeks (at the time of me creating this post) that I purchased the In Case of Emergency Binder.
I have gone through the sections (which are very well done) but I have yet to put pen to paper filling out the important information that would help ease the transition if something indeed happened to me.
That is Sloth, pure and simple, that has cast its spell on me.
I do find that I particularly procrastinate on things that have to deal with my demise.
I get it, no one wants to think of their own mortality and creating a will, estate plan, trust, or even filling out the In Case of Emergency Binder, is a stark reminder that our time here is limited.
However if you truly care for the people who depend on you, the sin of Sloth must be vanquished.
This is a purely altruistic and honorable action.
You certainly will not benefit from these actions, only your heirs.
Another example of how the sin of Sloth can cause havoc on your path to wealth is how you approach potential investments.
I have previously posted on Alternative Investments and spoken of the need for due diligence when evaluating a prospective offering.
In fact Diligence is the named Heavenly Virtue that counters Sloth.
“Diligence is the mother of good fortune.” ―
Any investment, alternative or not, should be researched and evaluated independently from the sponsor’s prospectus.
It is Sloth that wants you to blindly accept what is being presented to you as face value.
You may be lucky and the results achieved indeed back the initial expected returns.
Or you may find yourself in the midst of another Ponzi scheme.
Due diligence can involve asking to speak with prior investors, performing internet queries on the sponsor and the main principals for possible red flags, examining the track record of prior investments and how closely they followed the proforma, etc.
Yes it takes time and effort, both of which the sin of Sloth would rather you not do.
“We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.” -Quintilian
Due diligence cannot protect you from all negative outcomes, but it does help you go into a potential investment with eyes wide open and not blindly following Sloth.
I hope by now you realize that in order to change your financial course for the better and start the journey to wealth, it is necessary to break the inertia that Sloth feeds off of and diligently forge ahead.
Note:
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Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.
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-Xrayvsn
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Just like you, I need to formulate an estate plan. However, I do have an action plan though. A few weeks ago, I attended a financial wellness seminar that I helped organize as part of our hospital’s physician wellness committee. It was a great seminar that touched upon all the salient points. I was given the number to some very good estate planning attorneys. Now it’s just up to me to stop being a sloth and schedule a consultation meeting. ?
That is impressive your hospital has a wellness committee. There are talks at my work recently of starting one as well to prevent burnout which is a good sign but so far I haven’t seen any impactful change yet. I do need to start looking for estate planning attorneys (and it is important to have one in your own state as each state has different rules).
“We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.” -Quintilian That’s a great quote. And usually when we finally give in and do the thing it turns out that it wasn’t that bad after all.
I agree Dave. The actual activity usually is not as onerous as I make it out to be. It’s just breaking through inertia to get to doing it.
The solution is trivial and not very expensive. Chose an atty and make an appt. The rest will take care of itself. Everybody’s so damn worried about DIY and spending $1000. If you don’t have a plan, guess who’s coming back into your daughter’s life to claim your money after you die. If that doesn’t get you off your dead ass nothing will.
Very true Gasem. It’s been on my to do list for a bit and really need to just get it set up once and for all and be done with it
call today
I’m slothing my way through that list awfully slowly. We are still not properly insured. I rationalize this by saying to myself that individually we each make a ton of money compared to most people and so if one of us kicked it or couldn’t make a living then downsizing would have to happen and we would just deal with it.
I know….not well thought out. This is my slothy financial weak spot.
I would caution that there is a possibility that an event can effect both of you (car accident or other transportation related injury). If both die or disabled can result in a bad financial predicament for baby Kpeds. Insurance gives you peace of mind for an event that may not ever happen but still potential for.
Thanks for the gentle reminder. It’s been on the TODO list for a while. The insurance action item was easier to accomplish than I envision the last two items on your list…that’s saying a lot. For me, I think it is thinking about my demise or my husband’s demise in combo with a bad experience while a close relative formed their will. But, I will get on it. I know my son will be taken care of should we die, but taking these final steps should bring more peace to me…and I will use that as my motivation. Curious as… Read more »
I think personally as soon as you have a dependent it is a necessity to have insurance and a will. The estate plan is icing on the cake with the main purpose to avoid probate (which can be a time consuming and expensive process). I think it is also smart to do a periodic review to make sure beneficiary list is updated on everything (I forgot to do it one account for quite some time and has my ex listed on it which would be salt on the wound for me if she got any more of my money)
I, too, have been remiss at completing my “In Case Of Emergency” binder (probably ought to be named “In Time Of Emergency,” since years in the ED reinforce that it’s not if but when the emergency happens…
Got to get off my butt!
Ah birds of a feather. Well I have researched the estate attorney at least and will send out an inquiry. After that the only thing left would be the ICE binder.
Oh mannnnn, this is probably my biggest barrier. I don’t understand how I can be so lackadaisical about certain money/life planning tasks when I’m so very, very type A and obnoxious about other things.
Also, have you seen the BBC video of the sloth trying to find a mate? EPIC.
I honestly think there are a bunch of type As that are in this group. Even many physicians who feel with life and death on a daily basis are not compelled to plan for their own demise. It’s probably a mental thing as no one likes thinking of own mortality. And lol on the sloth trying to find a mate. I can only imagine how many hours of footage they needed
Insurance and investing is an obvious adult things we do. But at what point in net worth do you think estate planning really needs to be done? Inheritance tax level? Wills often go too long with out being done. It wasn’t until our family went to Disney and had to fly did we actually write a will… thrown together hastily but focus on what we want for our children in case something happens to us.
I think one of the advantages of a trust (which would be part of the estate planning) that benefits you regardless if you have a high net worth or not is to avoid probate which I think is very important even more than the tax benefits of estate planning
Very true… never thought about probate.