Why I Am Not Surfing Anymore!

Terry Morgan won 2 national championships in luge and was a member of the 1980 Olympic team

As a former two-time national champion in Luge and the only American male to win national championship medals in both Bobsled and Luge, I thought that I had seen my share of risk, reward and disaster in my life. I not only competed at a high level on speeding sleds on ice at over 90 miles per hour, but have been upside down in them. Add, 4 years of college football, getting my body bruised up in rugby for the last 28 years, and you have an athlete that truly knows risk and reward.

But nothing ever prepared me for my brush with death on July 23, 1996 in San Diego, California. It was the last day of a lovely vacation with my wife and in-laws. My wife was 7 months pregnant with our first child, to be named Jimmy after my oldest brother Jimmy Morgan. Jimmy was a 1976 Olympic team bobsledder and unfortunately was killed in a bobsled accident representing the USA at the world bobsled championships in Cortina, Italy in 1981.

I decided to do a little surfing my last day of vacation before heading home. The last thing I remember is standing up on the board and catching a wave. The next thing I remember is choking on the beach with paramedics around me trying to get me to breath. Somehow-someway, my wife had spotted my surfboard out in the surf but not me. After frantically searching the waves she spotted me floating face up in my wet suit. Her screams for help brought the attention of the life guard. Thank goodness an off duty doctor swam out to me along with the life guard, and immediately started mouth to mouth resuscitation. They air lifted me off the beach to world famous Scripps Hospital. I spent two days in intensive care, and walked out with a nasty bruise on my head and a very sore neck.

What is the connection between risk and reward for all this? If I would have died, I would have left a sizeable sum of life insurance for my wife that would have enabled her to raise our unborn child comfortably and move on with her life. If I would have been paralyzed, or somehow brain damaged from the surfing accident, I would have had disability insurance coverage to pay me an income until I recovered. Most Americans do not have any kind of disability insurance protection. They are under the impression that someone or the government will take care of them if they become disabled. The hospital bill? Thank goodness for health insurance because the bill was over $20,000! The wonderful helicopter ride I never remember taking was over $2,500. So, ask me about your risk and reward in life and I will be able to give you a first hand experience.  Speaking of risk, have you evaluated your portfolio in your 401(k) lately?  Having all of your "eggs in one basket" is not the way to go.  Good Diversification and Asset Allocation are key.  I can help you reduce your risk.