Developmental psychologists tell us certain life events are ''normative". For example, most kids start to read around age 7. A kid who reads at age 2 is a prodigy and his/her reading abilities are non-normative. We start to get old and feel our age at 65. That's the norm. Feeling old at 35 is non-normative and can signal a disease.
My husband works with a man who was a rising star in their firm. The man was in his 50's and had children who were just about launched. Then, one day, while on a treadmill in his gym, he started to feel strange. Got off the treadmill and went into cardiac arrest.
That was more than a year ago. The man has suffered brain damage and his short term memory is gone; he has bursts of anger and is demanding. What happened was catastrophic, certainly for the man, his wife and his family. He went on disability. The president of the firm, a very decent person, distributed the man's clients among other staff. The man went ballistic. He wants it all. Disability payments. His clients back. His salary back. He screamed at one of the people who took over one client, saying she was not qualified. Left her in tears.
How is this type of situation resolved without litigation? The president of the firm is trying to keep the clients since the firm gets a percentage. If this brain damaged man keeps the clients he will lose his disability and ultimately the clients. A lose-lose for everyone.
Disability insurance is one of the things young people don't consider. The disability policy through my husband's work only lasts for two years and pays a fraction of his salary. Unless this man has another disability policy outside work or source of income, he is facing life with diminished resources.
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