[USER]

I am almost 53 and was saving in retirement accounts with the thought that I might live to 95.

I am not yet ready to retire, but am on track to have enough saved to be “work optional” by the time I am 60.

I was diagnosed with a rare cancer this spring.

Had surgery to remove the tumor, was told things look good, and that we would do a baseline PET scan in July, and after that, just do scans annually or so to watch for reoccurrence.

The baseline scan revealed another tumor, this time in my liver.

I am very early in the process, but will have to confirm the results with more imaging and make a plan from there.

I am pretty positive I will be having a second abdominal surgery in the near future.

My thought now is that with the cancer in a second body part, I will not live to 95. Statistics say with the cancer now in my liver, I have a 70% chance of living 5 years, a 33% chance of living 10 years, and I will almost undoubtedly not live 20 years.

I still feel pretty good, and I realize I might still have a lot of years left, but I feel like if these are my last best years, I am not sure how much of them I want to spend sitting at a desk.

I am not likely to live to 65 or 70.

I have more than $400k in a traditional IRA, $200k in a Roth IRA, and $25k in a Roth 401k with my current employer.

I am single and get my health insurance through my employer.

If I were approved to go on disability today, I would get $2200 a month.

What are your ideas on how to proceed?

[Roger]

I would go on disability if you can and do what you want to do with your life.

You have over 625k in investments so it should last you quite awhile if you budget carefully.

As you said you do not want to spend more time sitting at a desk.

[David]

Terribly sorry to hear about your health situation. I am a stage 4 cancer survivor and this has strongly influenced my FI journey.

I left full time work last year at 56.

I hope to live a long life but recognize that is unlikely.

My goal is to live the best life possible now.

Six months into retirement, I ended up needing quintuple heart bypass surgery.

What a surprise given I thought cancer would be the first health issue.

I have no regrets about early retirement.

I refuse to die in a cubicle.

From a song I like….when you die, there will be two dates …

everyone will read them…what really matters is the dash in between them.

Live for that dash and do what is best for you and your family.

Best wishes.

[Mindi]

My mom worked hard all of her life, saving for retirement. She passed from cancer at 63, never being able to retire or enjoy what she was working so hard for.

Just sharing because I think it’s important to enjoy the time we have.

[Melanie]

First, I’m so sorry. I got diagnosed with stage 3 colon at 47 yrs old. Quite a shock.

I still have to keep working but I have definitely made adjustments assuming that I will not live to a ripe old age.

I am clear now, but chemo left me with quite a few other issues as well.

Is that disability through work or SS?

Try to use up any work related benefits you can first, my work disability would be 3x as much as SS.

But I would definitely take it and live your life to the fullest now.

I’m hoping for the very best outcome for you though

[Oz Chen]

Wishing you the best health outcomes.
If you enjoy your job, I’d keep it for the time being with health insurance and all that.

If you don’t like your job, time to live it up.

Other Qs:

* Do you like your job enough to keep it? Now your job is $2200/month less valuable

* what do your expenses look like?

What might they look like w/o employer covered healthcare?

[Shirley]

I have had family members from different lines who have passed away from cancer.

They went from break dancing on the dance floor and riding bicycles daily to sadly passing away. No one saw it coming.

Both of them worked hard daily and never got to enjoy at least 2 weeks off and never enjoyed retirement.

I’d say go on disability if you can.

Do what you want in life.

Hit the goals you want to accomplish.

Travel.

Take cruises, cruises are normally budget friendly and all you can eat and can travel to beautiful places.

Can you possibly downsize your current living space to something smaller?

That way the money goes further into activities you enjoy?

Maybe look into a dividend portfolio in your accounts if you don’t already have a dividend heavy portfolio to bring in a bit more monthly income.

I really hope all the best for you

After seeing my family members, it really opens my eyes to enjoy life outside of the desk as much as you can cause the unexpected can happen sometimes so quickly!

I also used to work at an inpatient ward where my patients advised me to always make time for travel, activities you like, and exploring while physically able. Thats always their #1 thing they regret not doing before they lost their physical ability.

[Tre]

Firstly, sorry to hear this – cancer is a terrible thing. My mom told me one thing as she was dying with cancer that has impacted me more than anything else, “I wish I would’ve saw more and done more …

now that I see how short life really is”.

I think you have to find a happy balance where you can do and see the thing on your bucket list and enjoy the time you’ve got left to live while also leaving enough in the case that (and I hope this is the case), beat all the odds!

[Nancy]

Without knowing your spend – my conservative side thinks to ask for part time with health benefits and see what happens.

Sometimes the interaction with work and people help some.

BUT.

Another part of me is get disability and Live.

If the second surgery goes great and it’s years from now and you’re feeling great – then I’d imagine you could consider working again – if needed
I also like that bus driver type of idea.

Not super strenuous and health care options.

Or any other job like that – either good health insurance being the priority

[Laura]

What are your expenses and will they change when you retire? It sounds like you may be able to retire now on disability if your expenses are low.

You may want to wait for the election before retiring though as the ACA is dependent on who is in office.

I’m sorry you’re going through this, I’ve been there too.

I recommend checking out the Radical Remission website where you’ll find thousands of documented cases of statistically unlikely remissions based on 10 lifestyle factors.

All the best to you.

[Mary]

Get a job as a crossing guard or school bus driver for a little income with health insurance.

Enjoy your time off during the day, summers, and all the holidays.

[Miriam]

Not the usual advice I would give, but since I have experience with cancer and a very close family member.

You only have one life, enjoy it now. Time is not guaranteed.

My sister’s biggest regret before she passed away from cancer at 29 was more time with her children.

[Ashley]

I would immediately start planning all my bucket list, going as part time as possible at work to keep benefits unit disability is sorted.

[Elanya]

Wishing you a positive outcome.
Only concern I see with quitting is the health insurance.

You can always make more $$.

Please comeback and do an update once you’ve decided.

Best to you

[Angela]

Personally if it were me, I’d take the disability, downsize and sell everything possible and live my best life.

Life is too short, especially when health issues start presenting themselves.

[Linda]

I’m admittedly biased having had two rare cancers and a subsequent third, but MD Anderson in Houston is the #1 cancer center in the country for good reason.

While you have excellent health insurance through your employer, I would absolutely recommend that you seek a consultation at MDA for a game plan to combat either this continuation of the first cancer or this second cancer.

Best wishes!

[Lori]

Disability isn’t easy to be approved of.
But as a 2x C survivor I get ya.

Do what makes you happy.

Travel.

Enjoy things and people. But give it a little time.

Percentages are not YOU.

[Author]

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