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OBIORAHFIELDS.COM | 404-994-6218 | JUNE 2020
THE PURCHASE THAT GAVE ME INSTANT BUYER’S REMORSE DON’T DO WHAT I DID!
At one time or another, I think everyone has made an extravagant purchase that they weren’t sure they could actually afford. That might be why there’s an entire day dedicated to those types of purchases, called National Splurge Day, on June 18. Sometimes, those risky purchases pay off. Other times — like in the story from my own life that I’m about to tell you — they lead to some serious buyer’s remorse. If I could go back in time and tell myself not to make this particular purchase, I would do it in a heartbeat. That said, I’m glad for the lessons I learned from that mistake, and I hope my story can help others avoid my same fate. It was my last year of law school. I was looking forward to graduating and getting out into the working world. I already had my first job lined up, and I was feeling on top of the world. At that time, I apparently decided it would be a good time to buy myself a new car. I told myself it would be a good idea for the following reasons: I would need a nice, new car to commute to my new workplace (why I didn’t think my old car would work, I do not know), and I figured that since I would soon be employed, I would be able to afford it. After doing minimal research and spending far too much money, I left the auto lot with a used Lexus that, at that point, was about five years
old. I almost immediately regretted it. The car was far too big for what I needed, and the monthly payments were far more expensive than I could afford. For months, I paid more for my car payment than I did for my rent! And don’t even get me started on the
“IF I COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND TELL MYSELF NOT TO MAKE THIS PARTICULAR PURCHASE, I WOULD DO IT IN A HEARTBEAT.”
car in Atlanta makes it a lot easier to get around, I already owned a car at that point, and buying a new car isn’t something that should be done on a whim. Cars are a deep money pit as I found out over the course of owning that Lexus. I probably could have made a much better purchase if I had done a little more research beforehand. When you’re feeling good about where you are and where you’re going in life, it’s easy to spend a lot of money and not think much of it. I wish I wouldn’t have fallen into that trap. However, I can say I’m happy it’ll never happen to me again, and hopefully, some of you will avoid my mistake by reading this.
interest rates on my payments. If my first employer would have rescinded my job offer, that car payment might have been the end of me. I had buyer’s remorse, big time. Luckily though, I did finally pay off that Lexus and was able to later sell it and get a little bit of my money back. Thinking back on the day I bought that Lexus, I wish I would have trusted my instincts more. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but a lot of people were telling me I needed a new car to get to my job, and I should pull the trigger on the purchase. I listened to them. Even though it’s true that having a
–Teri Fields
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Did you know that there’s a “holiday” called Insurance Awareness Day on June 28? It’s supposed to be a day dedicated to reviewing your insurance plans and maximizing DON’T FALL FOR THESE DIRTY TRICKS INSURANCE COMPANIES USE TO ACTUALLY GET THE HELP YOU PAY FOR
FEELING RENEWED AT ANY AGE 2 WAYS TO REVIVE YOUR LIFE THIS SUMMER If the mercurial spring weather has prevented you from getting out as much as you would have liked these past few months, you might be feeling a bit of cabin fever about now. Luckily, you can still introduce positive changes to your life that help you feel healthier and younger. Here are two ways to awaken your body and mind.
your family’s financial security. While that’s all well and good, you shouldn’t forget that insurance companies are not your friends — they will always try to pad their bottom line before
ADOPT A NEW ACTIVITY.
compensating you. So on June 28, and every other day, stay aware of some of the ways insurance companies will try to trick you into getting less than what you deserve.
As you get older, it’s not uncommon to drift further from the lifestyle you had in your 20s and 30s. Things have settled down, and you know a bit more about who you are, what you enjoy, and what you’re capable of. With this better understanding, you can make choices more aligned with your true interests and personality. Think about getting involved with a new activity you may have always wanted to try but never had the chance, like yoga or even a video game. Trying out new things keeps your brain active. You may even discover a new favorite activity along the way!
THEY’LL CATCH YOU WHILE YOU’RE DOWN.
In the immediate aftermath of an auto accident, your insurance provider will try to get you to assess your injuries right away to determine a settlement. Sometimes, they’ll even send someone to your home or the hospital to get you to settle. Don’t fall for this ploy. They’re trying to get you to agree to a lower settlement before you find out the full extent of your injuries. If you settle early and find out later that what they are giving you won’t cover your medical expenses, you’re out of luck.
PAY ATTENTION TO MENTAL HEALTH.
Although more years provide more experience and knowledge, sometimes they also come with heavy baggage. The loss of a loved one, trauma, and other struggles can impact your life in later years. This is why it’s good to practice mindfulness. Take some time to focus on the present. Go for a walk and listen to the world around you, feel the fresh air against your skin, fill your lungs, and take in everything you can see. Meditation is also a good way to spend a few minutes to focus on your body in the moment and the things in
THEY’LL DOWNPLAY THE SEVERITY OF YOUR INJURIES.
Insurance companies will do anything to convince you and anyone else who matters that your injuries aren’t as bad as you claim. Sometimes they will send you to one of their “independent” doctors, who are actually predisposed to downplaying your injuries for the insurance company’s benefit. Other times, they will collect surveillance of you doing activities that make it seem like you’re not really as injured as you claim. Don’t be taken in by these schemes.
life that make you happy. Practices like these can help you feel lighter, both physically and emotionally. Growing older doesn’t mean you can’t feel renewed and positive. This isn’t just an impossible idea — it’s a reality.
THEY’LL TELL YOU THAT YOU DON’T NEED A LAWYER.
Most insurance companies know that consulting an experienced attorney is the best way for you to get fairly compensated, so they will do everything they can to dissuade you from working with one or tell you you’re better off without one. Don’t believe them. We at Obiorah Fields can be your best line of defense against the insurance companies. Give us a call today, and we’ll let you know how we can help.
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3 CONSEQUENCES YOU CAN AVOID BY UPDATING YOUR ESTATE PLAN
As we’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, the COVID-19 pandemic made the importance of having an estate plan ready to go even more vital. That said, having an estate plan is only half the battle toward making sure your beneficiaries will be truly taken care of after you pass away. After you first create your estate plan, you need to regularly review it to make sure information is up to date. Otherwise, your heirs could end up facing one of the following consequences of an out-of-date estate plan.
circumstances can cause a lot of undue and avoidable confusion among your surviving family.
A CHANGE IN ASSET OWNERSHIP
When you name specific assets for beneficiaries in your estate plan, such as houses, vehicles, stock investments or other valuable property, make sure to update your estate plan as your ownership of those things changes. If you sell your house, you don’t want one of your beneficiaries left with a property you don’t actually own anymore. Just like changes in beneficiaries that weren’t accounted for, bequeathing assets you no longer own can lead to a lot of confusion and hurt feelings. INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN ESTATE PLAN DOCUMENTS You can name beneficiaries in a will, but you also have to name beneficiaries in IRAs and on insurance policies. All of
these are important documents that can ultimately determine who inherits your assets, and when they contradict each other, it can mean the courts will prioritize the beneficiaries on one document over other beneficiaries for inheritance. Make sure all your estate planning documents work in concordance with one another for a smooth legal process following your death. Of course, for any questions you have about your estate plan and how to make sure your family will be taken care of as you wish after you pass away, please call Obiorah Fields at 404-994-6218.
A CHANGE IN BENEFICIARIES
From the time you first create your estate plan and name your beneficiaries to the time you pass away, there’s a good chance you may have changed your mind about whom you want to receive your assets. Some of your beneficiaries may have gone through divorces, and some of them may have died. Failing to update your beneficiaries based on changes in life
At Obiorah Fields, LLC, we’re not your standard, run-of-the-mill law office. We don’t just do what’s required of us — we go the extra mile to make sure justice is served in every case we take on. If you’ve worked with us before and you know somebody who could benefit from taking us on as their legal team, please don’t hesitate to give them this newsletter and show them who we are! We want to help as many people as we can. We’re just one phone call away from new potential clients. If they contact us through our website and give us their name, contact info, and a brief description of their situation, we will give them a free case evaluation and report. Don’t hesitate to refer us! DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS OUR HELP? GIVE THEM THIS NEWSLETTER!
NEED A SPEAKER? If you are interested in having Teri Fields speak to your organization about legal issues, please contact us at 404-994-6218.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
The Purchase That Gave Me Instant Buyer’s Remorse
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How to Feel Renewed at Any Age
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3 Dirty Tricks Insurance Companies Use
Have the Olympics Ever Been Postponed Before? Do You Know Someone Who Needs Our Help? 3 Consequences of Failing to Update Your Estate Plan
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TIMES THE OLYMPICS WERE CANCELED AND THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE 2020 TOKYO GAMES
In late March, amid the global spread of COVID-19, the International Olympic Committee announced the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games. They were slated to take place in Tokyo, Japan, this summer, but they will now happen in the summer of 2021. While this is an unprecedented decision, it’s not the first time that major global events have affected the Olympic Games or which countries participated. Since the inception of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, they have been outright canceled three times — 1916, 1940, and 1944. The first cancellation of the Olympic Games happened during World War I. The German Empire was supposed to host the games in Berlin, but by the time 1916 rolled around, Europe was deep in the trenches of WWI. Many nations had sent their athletes to fight in the war, so the games were canceled. World War II caused the next two cancellations. The 1940 Olympics were initially scheduled to be held in Tokyo. It would have been the first time the games were hosted by a non-Western country, but Japan forfeited the right to host when they invaded China in 1937. The games were then rebooked for Helsinki, Finland, but after Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and started WWII, those games were scrapped as well. Since the fighting hadn’t ceased by the
time the games were supposed to happen in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in 1944, the
Olympics were canceled again.
Though the Olympics have happened on schedule since the end of WWII, the United States has not always participated. In 1980,
when the U.S. boycotted the Olympics that were held in Moscow, Russia, in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, 64 other nations followed suit. However, those games still went on as planned and 80 countries participated. The fact that major global conflicts are the only other events that have been catastrophic enough to affect the Olympics might be distressing and elevate anxiety about our current global health crisis. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the Olympics have only been postponed this time, not canceled. We’ll still get to cheer on our favorite Olympians next year.
4 | ObiorahFields.com | Your Rights, Our Fight
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