I spend a lot of time watching Snooker on television.
I was never much good at the game myself and I am always amazed at the skill of the players. the balls potted one by one. It dawned on me that it’s a bit like life, you have to get the right balls into the right pockets and at the right time.
So in the snooker game of life, this is the order of the balls you need to pot and why should you do it.
Yellow Ball:
you need to make a will, it’s one of the most important balls on the table, you should sink it as soon as possible. Miss it and you could cause all sorts of problems for your family. It may leave them arguing amongst themselves. They might be in a position that you did not want to leave them in
it doesn’t matter that you don’t have lots of money or assets at the time that you make your will ( but who knows, your favourite uncle might leave you several Bitcoin two days before you die!). At least you’ll know that if that happens the right people will get the right share.
You can make sure that your minor children are okay if anything were to happen to you or the other parent leaving them orphans by making provisions as to their guardianship and trustees. You don’t want it to happen but it just might. It’s not expensive or difficult to do this online: Click here
Green Ball:
Making a Lasting Power of Attorney. This is one of the most important things that you can do regardless of whether you have any money or not. If you are ill or cannot carry out important legal functions yourself due to incapacity or location and you have appointed an attorney, they can do it for you.
Brown Ball:
Next after the green, make a health and welfare power of attorney. Watch the television to see people in hospitals on ventilators and you will know how important it is to have someone who can discuss your medical condition and make decisions about treatment on your behalf.
You can pot those two last balls easily yourself online www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney or have it done here for you. Click Here
Blue Ball:
Remember what it was like in the old days when your mum and dad had one bank account, a life insurance policy each, their state pensions and maybe a couple of premium bonds? They kept all the paperwork in a drawer in the bedroom and when the time came that it was needed it was easily found and looked at.
It is not like that any longer. Not only do we sometimes have several bank or savings accounts we have pension plans, various other types of financial assets such as stocks and shares and digital currency as well as contracts with various third parties all of which are now dealt with online.
To deal with any of this online means that we need passwords and other login information. Keeping a hardcopy list in the drawer in your bedroom is not a good idea. if it’s digital information it can be stored at low or virtually no cost which means it can be easily found by your family executors and attorneys that you have given access to. Fix that, click here
Pink ball:
You may be in the pink right now but when the time comes your executors and family will need to organise your funeral and this can be not only emotionally difficult but also extremely expensive. The truth is that most of us don’t even give a thought to our funerals until it’s too late but we should.
Why? Because we may not want a big send-off with all the trimmings but something more simple. This is a highly personal matter and can cause arguments amongst family so why not plan ahead so that everyone knows what needs to happen when the time comes?
In snooker terms, it’s a safety shot which if played now enables this one to be potted, no problem. (More information here)
Black Ball
Well, this one is all down to you but none of us wants to pot the black too early ‘it’s the end of the game!
Keep playing as long as possible!