My life expectancy has been reduced - is there any hope of retiring before I pass?

Marcon

michaels said:

A few thoughts.  Part of your reason for scrimping/saving seems to be in order to pass on money to cousins/other relatives.  Would they want you to live a harsh life just so that you could effectively give a portion of your income to them?

Maybe use some of your income to build a lifetime of happy memories while you are still fit and able to do so? You'll be remembered for that for much longer than any cash legacy will last.

dawnofthedave

Simon11 said:

A really tough situation for you, but you are in a small minority at your age that you are are thinking and planning for your retirement. Anything you do now, could make a bigger differences, so do give yourself a pat on your back.

An option you haven't considered is focusing on trying to increase your salary and use any additional salary gains towards your pension. Thus you can enjoy your life on 40k now and work hard to increase your salary which goes straight towards your pension?

Thanks, and true!

dawnofthedave

powerspowers said:

That’s a lot to think about! It’s hard trying to work out the balance between living well now and looking after your future self, and everyone has a different way of looking at that. If you can strike a balance I think that’s the best option. 

Some things that might be worth adding to your thoughts-
how accessibile is your flat? Moving in the next 10 years might make a big difference if you do become ill and could keep you at home longer. 

What sick pay would your employer pay? Might be worth considering a public sector job with a typical 6 months full/6 month half pay. 

Fairly boring choices but could make a difference further down the line and don’t necessarily mean scrimping and saving in the short term. 

Thank you for this, I hadn't thought of either of these. In terms of moving, you are right, my flat is 1st floor so not too bad, but a ground floor place could delay needing care, so that's something to consider. Public sector is harder in my line of work, there are some jobs, but it often seems to be quite difficult to get into as someone in the private sector - but something to consider when job hunting!

dawnofthedave

michaels said:

A few thoughts.  Part of your reason for scrimping/saving seems to be in order to pass on money to cousins/other relatives.  Would they want you to live a harsh life just so that you could effectively give a portion of your income to them?

Related to that, you don't say what your flat is worth but we certainly have a plan to downgrade our property in retirement to release cash, and that does not necessarily mean smaller, it could just mean a cheaper area.  A 2 bed flat in one town worth 500k might cost 100k in another.

Finally a left field thought, could you reduce your hours per week now - I call it take part of your retirement now by instalments and do your 'living not working' stuff that most would do when retired in those hours, funded by not worrying about pension contributions as you don't expect to need a pension in future.

This is true, probably not. I don't at present have any dependents. I might instead be able to do something like contribute small regular amounts to my baby nephew into a savings account for example, to help with a deposit when he is older, at least that would be something. I am outside of London but in the South East, so there's definitely scope to move to a cheaper area. It's a good idea about reducing hours now, but, I would worry too much about what would happen if I did live longer... but I think I could go part time in my early 50s probably. 

dawnofthedave

JayRitchie said:

dawnofthedave said:

JayRitchie said:

Hi

I'm so sorry to hear about your condition. There are some great people on this forum who will have suggestions.

A few queries if I may:

- how much do you currently have saved in pensions?

- what are yours and your employers current contributions? 

- does your employer offer a salary sacrifice scheme for pension contributions?

- how much is your student loan balance?

- how much is outstanding on your mortgage?

Thank you for this JayRitchie. Pension pot is currently 18k. Employer contributes about 84, I do 300. Student loan is about 17k but gets written off at age 46 ish. Mortgage balance is about 153.5k. I don’t know about salary sacrifice but I could discuss it with them if worthwhile. 

Please ask about salary sacrifice. Its really worth knowing this when deciding between pensions and other options.

One thing to keep in mind with pension if you have health conditions which might increase the risk of not enjoying a long retirement is that this will probably be reflected in annuity rates. You should be able to get a higher income at, say, 60 than a man of the same age without such conditions.

I will, thank you for this. And that's good to know, that might soften the impact a bit for me later.

dawnofthedave

Albermarle said:

Save hard and live very frugally for the next 22 years to try and get a big enough pension together to retire around 57 (if that’s even possible).

Probably by the time you get there, the earliest age you could access a pension will be more like 59/60.
Although workplace pensions are normally the best way to save for retirement, due to the tax advantages and employer contributions, it is also useful ( especially in your case maybe) to build up money elsewhere that is more readily accessible at a younger age, even if it means paying a bit less towards your pension.
In the short term this means savings, but for the longer term means investments outside your pension, usually in a stocks and shares ISA.

o complicate matters further, I may inherit from my parents at some point, but realistically the amount could be anything from 0 to 400k depending on the tax regime at the time, their life circumstances, and whether they need care etc - so I can't count on that.

You are right that you can not count on this, but I do not think you can just discount it either.
Personally I think it would be sensible to take a realistic view on what there is a reasonably good chance of you getting, and at least incorporate this in your longer term planning without being too reliant on it. 

Thanks for this, you make some good points. I had focused that much on the fact that I might not be able to access pension savings until later. So that's something to think about. 

dawnofthedave

Grumpy_chap said:

I sympathise with the OP's predicament - it really can't be easy news for them to hear.
I also think, for now, the OP needs to carry on pretty much the same planning as though they would live a full life.  There is every possibility that medical science will progress in the next 30 years to improve the prognosis for the OP.  The OP can revisit their plans periodically, taking into account their own health and treatment advances as time progresses.

Thank you, this is true

dawnofthedave

DullGreyGuy said:

dawnofthedave said:

I am a single in my mid 30s earning 40k per annum. I’ve got a flat with a mortgage and had spent most of my 20s/early 30s pummelling all of my savings into getting a deposit together.

So your worst case scenario is something happens in 20 or more years time? A vast array of things could happen between now and then, we could have all been wiped out after nuclear war or gene therapy may have developed a cure for your condition. 

I've known a number of family members making decisions based on their crystal ball and the majority got it significantly wrong and things didnt go to plan. I dont put a great stock in major changes in plans based on potential future events decades in the future. Small changes maybe, which over the time horizon could still have significant impact but thats it. 

What's your retirement plans? I mean, personally I enjoy work and wouldn't be the end of the world were I not to retire. Im sure at some point the hours will get to much but would hope thats well into 60s. I know some have massive plans that work would very much get in the way of so again its different strokes for different folks 

Thank you for this, I see what you're saying and agree with a lot of it, I am wondering whether working part time later on might be a compromise option that might also be key to keeping my mind active and delaying deterioration while still allowing some more spare time to enjoy life.

dawnofthedave

Cornish_mum said:

Hi 

I just wanted to add to your thread as I am in similar position myself, in my case I have just finished treatment for an aggressive form of cancer, I am currently in remission but no one knows how long for. My situation is different to yours that I am a bit older (now mid forties), have a young family and decided around your age to sort out my pension (so I have a bit of a pot already). These are some things that might be worth you considering (from my own recent experience).

Firstly, is there a charity associated with your condition who offer support? If so I suspect they may be a very helpful sounding board. I think in your original post you mentioned you have a 50:50 chance of having inherited the risk gene? They are likely to be a good source of information to talk this through and explain possible future options for treatment etc.

If you do succumb, what will that look like? I know that’s really hard to face up too but I found it really useful to understand what stage 4 (ie the terminal phase of my disease) looks like, what care I will need, for how long and what NHS, local charity and state support I might get. In my case saving into a DC pension will help in some cases with offering me better choices than the state will provide for this stage of disease. I also looked at what my current pension etc would provide in this scenario.

Do you want to have access to money outside pensions for top-ups to your lifestyle or to pay for approved but not NHS funded treatments, that might delay the development of the terminal phase? In my case there is already a great drug available on private prescription in the UK which could give me an extra 6-12 months of good health. To benefit from it I won’t be sick enough to access my pension. So I am saving outside my pension so I can buy some months of this drug - to give me a bit more time.

Now the toughest one, how to balance the above with living for today and for the possibility that I might not die in the next 5 years after all. It’s really really hard - I am just trying to do what feels right for me. 

Take care it’s a awful thing to find out, as is outside most peoples experience and just a tremendous shock. I have found a lot of solace  from a small charity run Facebook group of other people with my type (of v rare) cancer, as few people in my day to day life can fully understand my situation. 

Thank you for your thoughts and insights on this, this is really helpful. And I am sorry to hear about your health and your situation - that’s really got to be very tough. I am glad you’ve found some solace via a charity and I hope you continue to be in remission. Given your advice I think I will see what support is out there, especially as a sounding board for my plans, thank you. Sending you and your family good karma x

dawnofthedave

Marcon said:

michaels said:

A few thoughts.  Part of your reason for scrimping/saving seems to be in order to pass on money to cousins/other relatives.  Would they want you to live a harsh life just so that you could effectively give a portion of your income to them?

Maybe use some of your income to build a lifetime of happy memories while you are still fit and able to do so? You'll be remembered for that for much longer than any cash legacy will last.

True, thank you