Guess what might be one of the most painfully underestimated costs of all? If you guessed healthcare and end-of-life care you are correct. Read on for a handful of reasons why it can be dangerous to avoid addressing this topic.
First a brief introduction. Anyone who has been a direct or indirect care giver for an aging relative or friend knows the pain and stress that can be involved. Of course, there are joyful care relationships, which ultimately are the goal. Where the difficulty begins is in estimating the costs of later-in-life care. Then, even worse can be executing the logistics of care and the ultimate reality of having to pay for – or running out of funds to pay for – care, whether for oneself or a spouse or relative. Timing is often almost completely unpredictable.
Two weeks ago, a famous Nobel Prize winning psychologist, who spent his life studying the human mind and decision-making, died. Daniel Kahneman reluctantly accepted the title “economist” as he and his long-time research partner, Amos Tversky, wrote an amazing, internationally best-selling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Together Kahneman and Tversky were pioneers in the field of behavioral psychology. Along the way, behavioral psychology was applied to all sorts of economic and investing decisions and the two psychologists were consulted by business leaders around the world. Here are a few of the questions the two men studied over decades, with a few of their answers: 