We tell our clients that Estate Planning is important so that they are prepared for a worst-case scenario. We tell them, “Somebody woke up feeling great this morning and got hit by a bus.” We tell our clients this because it really does happen. And last month, it nearly happened to me! Maybe I’m being overdramatic, but I was riding Uber home in a Prius and was rear-ended on the freeway in a hit-and-run accident! It was quite a jolt, in more ways than one. I’m fine, but in that moment, I was suddenly the one thinking, “Is my estate plan up to date?”
Along those same lines, I went to Florida for a conference (the one I was taking the Uber home from), and it included a golf tournament. The charity was called Heart of the Game. Craig Goldenfarb created his charity to raise money to buy and donate AED defibrillators in Florida. There are local charities here doing similar things. When my son was a freshman basketball player in 2010 his teammate Darius Jones died because there was no AED device at the gym where he was playing.
According to Goldenfarb, 10,000 kids a year die from cardiac events. Today the Darius Jones Foundation is still helping to fund screening and CPR training in the Bay Area. One thing I learned is that time is even more critical than I thought. There may not be time for the EMT to arrive. That is why I am adding an AED device to my office. I have a fire extinguisher that I’ve never had to use. Why not have an AED device that hopefully I also never need to use?
Perhaps not the cheeriest thoughts as we enter the holidays. So let me just wish everyone a healthy and safe holiday season as we head into a prosperous and healthy New Year!
Happy Holidays to everyone!