Your morbid questions of the day
July 22, 2008
When do you think you’ll die?Will you be happy with the life you lived?
These aren’t my questions. They’re from John E. Girouard, the president of Capital Asset Management Group in Bethesda. He’s also the author of “The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation.”
Apparently, part of Girouard’s retirement planning and financial services work is getting clients to consider those questions people really don’t like to consider.
“‘I begin working with clients by asking them to write their full name and the age at which they guess they will die. Then I ask them to write down the five things they wish they had been known for, had accomplished, had achieved, or been doing in the year before they died.’
“Girouard says this exercise is often sobering, provoking people into converting secret fears into action so that the financial planning process can be geared toward making sure those five important things happen before they die.”
It’s off-putting, but I see the benefit in the process. How about you? Any mountains to climb or seas to cross before shuffling off?
(My current plan is immortality. It’s working so far.)
JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist
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You must be young Joe (and not Mighty Joe Young). These are pretty ordinary questions and John Girouard didn’t think of them either. Is Web Specialist a synonym for intern?
Wow, that comment was just a wee bit rude, don’t you think?
The intern takes offense.
I would guess these are very ordinary questions for a life insurance salesperson to ask…the longer you think you will live…the bigger the policy he can sell you!