The Doctor is In
Many moons ago, Robitussin ran their “Dr. Mom” commercials. In most of them, the mom gets sick, takes the medicine, feels better, and comes down the stairs to a house that is an “ultimate mess.” (link here for commercial) Beyond the fact that the commercial was to sell Robitussin, it pointed out that when mom gets sick the family falls apart. Well, today that can happen when dad gets sick, and can’t do school drop-off, be soccer dad, or take the kids out for hot cocoa. Even with children, parents can need to stay home to tend to them, especially if they are past the nanny age.
The overall point is that the annual physical with your doctor is important. “…A yearly physical brings your care up-to-date. Provide guidance on reducing your risk for disease. Your doctor can provide information and motivation to stop smoking, lose unhealthy pounds, or manage risk factors like high blood pressure. Manage your medications. Your doctor will make sure your prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and supplements don’t interact with each other. They can also help you manage potential side effects. Annual physical exams will allow your doctor to accurately update your electronic medical record, which you can track…” — Bryan Roth, DukeHealth Having an updated medical record is important should you have an emergency. Also, looking at certain numbers from year to year a doctor can see if you are at risk for diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc.
You may also want to consider annual health exams with an eye doctor or a doctor treating a chronic condition. The latter is to make sure that you are still on the right dose of medicine. And the former to make sure if you are like me that your eyeglass prescription is still good for your eyes.
Did you know there are other annual check-ups you should have?
“An annual financial review gives you a chance to evaluate your financial position. Many changes can affect your investments during the course of a year. It's important to monitor your retirement and investment accounts regularly and make adjustments annually to stay on track.” —Ameriprise Financial
All your insurance policies to make sure that they are still accurate to the life you’re leading. “…instead of trying to remember to review your coverage during busy and turbulent life changes, just set up an annual reminder to review your life insurance coverage instead. You could do this during tax season – you have to look at all of your financial documents anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone? If you haven’t had any major financial changes in the last year, that little meeting with yourself will go by really quickly!” — Adam Cecil, Policy Genius You should also check homeowners/renters, automobile, liability and commercial insurances as well.
”At the end of each whirlwind year, it’s hard to decipher where the last 365 days went. An annual [personal] review is a moment (or two) to pause and consider how you spent your year –– the highs, the lows, and everything in between. —Doist
Now that you have done all these annual reviews (I like to do the last one as a family), you then make the necessary changes based on the notes you took. Always remember, that your financial advisor, insurance agents and doctors are here to answer your questions and help with the reviews.