Planning for Retirement with Lupus

Retirement, that wished for moment when you can choose how you spend your days, you can follow your dream or purpose, travel, gather with friends or loved ones without the responsibility of a job or the need of a paycheck.  We often look forward to this a time of relief.  

I recently signed up for a series of seminars that help you plan for retirement, give you tips on how to withdraw your income with the best tax outcome, etc. We were lucky in that we were given this advice at a young age. Start saving for retirement as soon as possible, put every spare penny in your 401k or pension plan as often as possible and you will be in good shape by the time you need it. If you wait too long to start, you can lose a lot of earning time which can extent the time you have to work when you are older. We may not be millionaires but we will live a comfortable life. It was great advice. During this seminar the speaker brought up something that I found a bit distressing.  He said that one of the best investments that you can make for your long term financial health in retirement, is to invest in your health now.  If you have health issues when you retire, it could cost you much, or all of your retirement nest egg.  As you can imagine, that can be a serious worry for someone who has a chronic disease like Lupus. 

We are active, we eat healthy, we are non-smokers, we don't drink much.  You'd think that would help.  However, this revelation puts to rest the "maybe we can retire early" hope.  If I had to pay for health insurance at the current new rates on my own with a pre-existing condition, or if my disease progresses and I develop new organ involvement, this could chip away at my retirement nest egg before I get a chance to do the retirement adventures I'd hoped for.  Or I could run out of retirement money too soon and be old, sick and broke. The other option is to wait to retire until I'm old enough to qualify for Medicare and hope that Medicare is still there for my generation, after the Baby Boomers have used it, or after any political legislation happens. It's distressing.

My little Virgo, plan ahead, have a plan B and C, personality is having a bit of a meltdown right now. Because My Dear Husband and I don't have children and I am the youngest of my siblings by at least 11 years, counting on family in my elder years are not an option.  We've even had conversations about leaving America and retiring to a country that has more affordable health care, or universal health care. We are not sure if that is a viable option, but it feels so sad to think that the country of my birth may not be a safe place to retire for someone like me. In the work careers of my parent's generation, if you worked hard and put in your time, you retired with health coverage provided by your employer.  That just doesn't happen anymore, especially in Southern Oregon where many employers don't provide any health coverage for their employees while working, let alone after retirement.  

I am not giving up, I will still be working toward remission and long term health. I'll still be saving and investing to make sure I have the best retirement that I can plan for. I'll still be caring for my own health and wellbeing in the hopes of a healthy and active retirement.  Cheers, here's to a happy, healthy retirement!