Time and time again Walter White was confronted with a vicious cycle of problems followed by opportunity followed by problem then opportunity. His reaction to each was to focus escalating energy and resources at each individual problem as it would be the last hurdle he would face. Hardly the case!  Over time we saw that each solution caused a domino effect in other areas and a resulting roller coaster of a ride making for great television. Sound familiar?
Gus, Mike and the cartel had a far more disciplined plan in place to profit from their opportunities as well as handle as many of the potential contingencies as possible. And in spite of its legacy costs their diversified approach worked for a long time until an extremely volatile asset, Heisenberg, came into the mix. This volatile asset produced seemingly limitless rewards…until it didn’t.
National Financial Planning Week starts on October 7th. Here are 5 financial planning lessons learned from the hit series, ‘Breaking Bad’:

  1. Start a small business. Walt took a skill (chemistry) and turned it into a multimillion dollar business. Brainstorm on some ideas based on something you enjoy and are good at (and that is LEGAL). Like to do woodworking? Maybe make high end furniture and sell it.
  2. Disability. This can strike at any time and usually without warning. Walt probably had a Disability policy through the school however, Disability Insurance policies usually only pay about 60% of pay. Consider adding a personal policy to one that you currently have through an employer.
  3. Emergency fund. Walter White went about it all wrong. For us law abiding citizens try to have at least 6 months to a year of money set aside for basic living expenses. Don’t forget to include the premiums on life and disability type polices in these expenses as you wouldn’t want a policy being cancelled for nonpayment.  Burying your emergency fund in the desert is not an advisable course of action.
  4. Life insurance. Walt had 2 kids under 18 so a life policy would have made a lot of sense. Being a non-smoker in his late 40’s, he would have been able to pick a term life policy with affordable premiums.
  5. Get a financial plan.  Having a general comprehensive plan to cover all of life’s uncertainties would have been good money spent.  Find a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) near you at http://www.fpanet.org/PlannerSearch/PlannerSearch.aspx

Then again, if Walter White had a great financial plan then we would have missed out on one of Cable TV’s best creations.  Thank you ‘Breaking Bad’ for the lessons learned!


Submitted by: William Dion, CFP®
Rockland Trust Investment Management Group

Rick Fingerman, CFP®, CDFA™
Financial Planning Solutions

Barrett Costello, Hennessy Funds