Some Advice from Someone Who Lived It…
I am sharing my experience with you in hopes to provide some advice, some items to think about and the issues that arose that might not have crossed your mind.
December 9, 2024. Monday. I woke up like every Monday morning, a busy week ahead heading into the holiday season and the end of the year. I figured I could squeeze a few more minutes in bed before starting the day. Upon returning to bed after a trip to the washroom, I found that my arm was asleep which was weird since I was just up. Maybe I feel asleep on it, so I went to get up and that’s when I realized my entire left side was not working. I was having a stroke and I can tell you I was scared.
My mind was racing. Am I going to die? I can’t die, there is still too many milestones in our lives that I want to be a part of. If I do survive this, am I going to have brain damage that keeps me from leading ANR and advising our clients that depend on ANR every day? How would this effect my family? My team at ANR? The ANR clients?
The last thing I remember of that morning is getting loaded into the ambulance.
That week, what could go wrong with my health situation did. My wife Barb, was told I had a 8% chance of survival and was called back to the hospital late at night because I might not wake up again. Drain put in my head to relieve pressure on my brain, blood pressure all over the place, a blood clot in my arm, pneumonia.
On top of this, payroll was due that week at ANR, bills to be paid, client deliverables to be delivered.
You are probably wondering, how does someone deal with all of that?
I had put planning in place but even the best laid out plans have flaws.
I had a Power of Attorney and a Will, but no one knew where it was. I knew where it was but I wasn’t much help that first week in the hospital.
So we will start with the first piece of advice, ensure your family knows where these two documents are.
The Power of Attorney (“POA”) was extremely important. Decision needed to be made about the business, funds needed to be accessed, health decisions had to be made. No of this would happen without a POA. My Wife, Barb, was my POA but without the document, nothing was moving.
After coming out of the first week, the POA could not be found, and this leads me to my second piece of advice, surround yourself with great people.
Great people are the reason why this story ends so positively.
One of my ANR Senior Managers, Ashley stepped up and was there for Barb. The two of them immediately contacted my investment advisor. With his help, they were able to get my lawyer to visit me in the hospital to get a new POA executed. With that done, Barb and Ashley then worked with my Banker to get signing authorities situated.
My Investment Advisor was available throughout this time, assisting with accessing the critical illness and disability insurance products I had in place but more importantly providing guidance to my wife on what needed to be done. One issue that arose was dealing with the Health Care Professionals and what was needed from them for accessing my insurance products, which was one item I had never given much thought to.
These insurance products provided a safety net in uncertain times, so that’s the second piece of advice I can provide, as a Business Owner, review your situation and work with an Advisor to put the right products in place that will take care of you, your family and your business in a time where there are health issues, a disability or as much as everyone hates to think about, death.
The third piece of advice that came from my situation, is ensuring you have explained your business philosophy, goals, objectives and policies with someone. During 2024, I met with my Senior Managers monthly and we had discussions on these topics. So when all this happened, someone knew the direction to take short term at ANR. That person for me was Ashley. She was able to take the lead in my absence and navigate the ANR team and clients through this uncertain time.
So in summary, I have five key pieces of advice for any business owner so they are prepared for when a health issue arises and puts you out of commission for a period of time:
1). Have your Power of Attorney and Will prepared and more importantly make sure its accessible to those who will need it.
2). Surround yourself with good people and advisors. Lawyers, Investment Advisors and Bankers will be key to successfully navigating a stressful situation when you as the business owner is incapacitated. (Accountants are important to, in this story, ANR had that covered).
3). Build a Plan that includes the right Insurance products for your family and business. Critical Illness, Disability and Life Insurance are three that you should talk to your Advisor about.
4). Share Your Business Vision. Make sure you discuss your business, your management philosophy, your business goals and key policies with someone so they can step up to run your business while you are out of the picture. Make sure you have someone like Ashley.
5). Build A Strong Team Within Your Business. The ANR team stepped up during my three and a half months of hospitality and physical rehab. They believed in ANR and made sure things ran smoothly in my absence and made sure ANR would be waiting for me when I got home.
I have a lot of people to thank in all aspects of my recovery and fortunately I’m still here to tell you this story.
I am back in the office now while I continue my physical rehab at Bone Physio. If you want to chat about your plan or how to create a plan for you, your family and your business, feel free to contact me.
Until next time,
Jason