Would your views on savings be different?

[Nika]

If you knew you had a cancer gene?
Or another dominant gene and bad family history that made the odds of you getting it high?

Would how much you save/spend/enjoy be different?

[disneysteve]

I'd probably save more aggressively to make sure my family was well taken care of and that we had a bigger cushion if I became ill. I have medical, disability, and life insurance, so I guess I've already got things in place, but I know there would be a lot of out of pocket expenses that would crop up so I'd want more cash in the bank.

[Nika]

Disneysteve, given that you have life insurance in place, would you not want to work less/spend more time with family/take more time off and vacations with them?

Would your retirement savings change?

[disneysteve]

Disneysteve, given that you have life insurance in place, would you not want to work less/spend more time with family/take more time off and vacations with them?

Would your retirement savings change?

Tough question. I'd certainly want to enjoy life more, whatever that would look like, but that would take more money, not less, so how would that work? If I worked less, how would we pay the bills? Life insurance only helps after I die. Disability insurance only helps if I'm incapable of working. As long as I'm healthy enough to work, I'd need to do so.

One option, I suppose, would be for me to work less and for my wife to go back to work to make up some of the difference, but then it would be harder for us to do things because she'd be less available. That doesn't seem like a good answer.

I guess I could focus less on saving for a retirement that wasn't going to happen and just know that my life insurance would take care of my family after I died. Then I could use the money that would have gone to retirement to boost our lifestyle while I could still enjoy it. That would give us an extra several thousand dollars each year to play with.

[KTP]

Hey this brings up a scenario I have never considered.

What if you found out at age 20 that you have some condition that absolutely means you will not live past 50 or 60. You remained single your entire life. Would you still have to pay into social security or could you get some sort of exemption? What about a pension, would you have to contribute to that?

I do not know that there are any exemptions for people who have zero chance of living to collect a benefit. Perhaps one reason would be because there is never a 100% certainty a cure would not be found.

[disneysteve]

Hey this brings up a scenario I have never considered.

What if you found out at age 20 that you have some condition that absolutely means you will not live past 50 or 60. You remained single your entire life. Would you still have to pay into social security or could you get some sort of exemption? What about a pension, would you have to contribute to that?

I do not know that there are any exemptions for people who have zero chance of living to collect a benefit. Perhaps one reason would be because there is never a 100% certainty a cure would not be found.

I don't believe there are any exemptions like that. You'd still have to pay in.

[Nika]

Man, now I'm getting an ad for cancer services on the banner on this page. Targeted ads sometimes suck! All it takes is one post with a key word.

KTP, there are very few people in that kind of situation without any heirs/dependents/anyone they would like to leave that pension money/SS survivor benefits.

And of those people, I doubt the government comes out "ahead". As someone alone, and with those types of condition is likely to be using some kind of SS disability or state medical care in the final months after they can no longer work, pay cobra, and need a lot of medical care.

[dawnwes]

I think you need to live as if you will live. Living life with what ifs is no way to live IMO.

My aunt died yesterday of cancer. She got it for the first time in 1987. It went into remission for the next 23 years. She battled it bravely for 4 years and lost that battle yesterday.

She lived every moment in the present. Loving her family, loving life, living like tomorrow WOULD come.

She was an inspiration to me.

Dawn

[humandraydel]

Man, now I'm getting an ad for cancer services on the banner on this page. Targeted ads sometimes suck! All it takes is one post with a key word.

I get 0 ads thanks to NoScript.

[snafu]

I am a cancer survivor having the 1st of several surgeries in 1998. My last bout with what I call the cancer 'circus' was August 2013. It is no longer Big C, if caught early it's mostly controlled. The fix feels worse than the disease as the medicos take control of your life. We have a different system. Hospitals are funded by tax payers. Getting treatment isn't based on how much money you can spend but on how your illness is assessed in medical terms.

Until a couple of years ago monthly premiums were due quarterly. Our wealthy government withdrew premiums as a 'benefit' since they were mostly paid by employers as a taxable staff benefit like a company car. Most survivors are like dawnwes's aunt, living... 'every moment in the present. Loving [our] family,[friends] loving life, living like tomorrow WOULD come.' I get annoyed that I'm ineligible for most types of insurance, there are some things I can't do and that I get tired and need to give in and sit down..

[cschin4]

I don't think so. I think I have found a pretty good balance between enjoying life and saving. And, I really don't need Big things to be happy. I don't need a trip to the Carribean or whatever. Going for a hike in the local forest is just as satisfying to me. I don't need to travel a long way out of town to have fun. I can enjoy a cup of coffee at the local diner. I have very simple pleasures. Those are the things that I really enjoy.

[disneysteve]

I don't think so. I think I have found a pretty good balance between enjoying life and saving. And, I really don't need Big things to be happy. I don't need a trip to the Carribean or whatever. Going for a hike in the local forest is just as satisfying to me. I don't need to travel a long way out of town to have fun. I can enjoy a cup of coffee at the local diner. I have very simple pleasures. Those are the things that I really enjoy.

The definition of happiness: Being satisfied with what you have.

[cschin4]

Well, doesn't mean I still don't want a screaming yellow GTO Pony Mustang. Of course I do. But, that just isn't a practical car where I live and a lot of snow.

[disneysteve]

I have a relative who has early-onset Alzheimer's. Symptoms started when he was about 39. He's now about 55. He and his wife, who fortunately has a flexible job, have been spending a LOT of time traveling, cruising the world essentially. They just got back from a 5-week cruise. They want to do it while he is still able.

I'm in no way questioning their decisions, but I do wonder about what they are doing. I think he is able to enjoy the experience while it's happening for the most part, but he really doesn't remember it. We've seen them within a week or two of returning from a trip and he could tell us very, very little about what they had done, where they had gone, etc. Obviously, she remembers it all. I wonder if to some extent, the trips aren't more for her benefit than for his, figuring she won't want to do that stuff on her own after he is gone.

That's something to think about here. If I knew I was going to die prematurely, are there things that I'd want my wife to get to see and do with me while I was still able to do so?

[ua_guy]

Just knowing I had a gene or was predisposed to a genetic or terminal condition wouldn't make me behave much differently, as long as I was still in relatively good health. I would be aware of the condition and watch my health closely, but the fact is, we are all going to die, and none of us know when.