Over the weekend, a friend and I went to a playdate with our kids at a local park. She pulled up, parked, shut the door, and immediately realized that she had left her keys and phone inside the (now locked) car.

You might think you know how our next hour or so looked. 

Fortunately for us, two facts saved the playdate:

1. Her child had been previously extricated from her car seat and was outside with us, not locked inside the car, and

2. This friend, a model of preparedness, had a hide-a-key hidden in an undisclosed location on the frame of her car. After a few minutes spent remembering where exactly it was, she shimmed under the car, grabbed the key box, and pulled out the solution to her problems. Two minutes later, our kids were enjoying the swing set. 

As an individual who values preparedness above many other things, I was impressed. It also got me thinking about the ways we prepare for the expected and unexpected challenges life throws at us. 

If you’re like me and my friend, you expect to lock yourself out of the car/house/whatever else with a door several times in your life. You plan ahead and prepare, with hide-a-keys, AAA, or whatever backup method you see fit. 

If you’re like me, you do NOT expect to get locked inside your pitch-black garden shed without a phone when the door closes on you and your husband is away on a 2-week business trip in Central Africa. This experience taught me the value of deep breaths, patience, persistence, and the kindness of passing strangers curious about the cries of “help me!” emanating from someone’s backyard. 

With financial planning, as in life, forethought can only go so far. I recommend all my clients prepare for the unexpected with an emergency savings fund, appropriate insurance coverage, up-to-date beneficiary designations, a password manager, and current estate documents, among other items. Checking these boxes increases your chances of being financially covered when meeting many of life’s challenges. 

As my experience showed, however, the people on your side can matter as much, if not more, than meticulous planning. This is a critical focus of my work at Sunnybranch: helping clients build a strong foundation so that life’s “unknown unknowns” don’t topple the whole building. Building this foundation includes the checklist items mentioned above, as well as a focus on integrating flexibility and resilience into our planning and goal-setting process. When the unexpected does come to pass, I am there every step of the way to help navigate, advocate, and provide support however I can. 

Don’t take this post to mean preparation isn’t important. If careful planning can help mitigate financial stress from even 50% of unexpected life events, it’s more than worth it. Instead, opt to add a different form of preparedness by building a community around you and your family that is wholly invested in your long-term success and happiness.