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WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I felt immortal. We all did. It’s natural and likely hardwired into our brains. Such feelings of immortality have an evolutionary advantage, encouraging us to take the risks necessary to succeed.
When I planned for retirement, the notion of immortality was front and center. I consider myself in excellent health. I eat right. I’m not overweight. I stay active. I have a close circle of friends and an active social community from which to draw strength. Heck, I can do 25 pushups without breaking a sweat.
But I also wear a thick set of health blinders.
Both my parents exhibited dementia shortly after turning age 80. My father passed away from cardiac stenosis at 83, in many ways sparing him the loss of mental function. Unfortunately, both autoimmune disorders and neurological dysfunction are rooted in my family tree.
Meanwhile, I have high blood pressure, a genetic variant of hyperlipidemia, esophageal Barrett’s syndrome and the common benign prostatic hyperplasia that all men get as they age. I’ve had two heart attacks requiring stent placements. In addition, I live with autoimmune gluten sensitivity. My physician daughter tells me that I have signs of a tremor. To top it off, I have crooked teeth (although my breath is minty fresh).
Oh yes, I also had a brain tumor excised last year. Almost forgot that one.
Yet I still think of myself as immortal.
Our retirement plan incorporates an “immortal” timeline, with a 40-year survival expectancy for both my spouse and me. For decades, our investment strategy was set to nearly 90% stocks. When I turned age 59, I moved to 80% stocks and 20% bonds and cash—an asset allocation that reflects my conviction that we’ll live for many more decades. I rebalance semi-annually to those asset allocation targets.
We expect to delay taking my Social Security benefits until I’m 70. In addition to our core retirement portfolio, we’ve set aside three years’ worth of expenses for necessities, travel, projected taxes, charitable giving, and modest annual gifts to our children. Perhaps our three-year buffer is excessive, but it allows us to sleep at night.
I rely on predictive spending models to convince myself that our portfolio is large enough to carry us through four decades. I love FIRECalc and the Bogleheads’ “variable percentage withdrawal” spreadsheet. I test spending levels using an inflation-adjusted 4% withdrawal rate or less. I also take advantage of Monte Carlo simulations and other predictive calculators, such as those at DQYDJ, to reconfirm our spending plans.
My wife and I are confident that we’ll be able to cover future expenses—including taxes and adjusting for inflation—until we both reach the centenarian mark. Overall, we’re extremely comfortable with this “immortal” outlook. What if we die before we reach age 100? We’re happy to leave monies to our heirs and charity.
Which brings me back to what happened almost exactly one year ago. Simply put, I had a brain tumor diagnosed and then removed. This type of life-changing event can definitely mess with one’s sense of immortality.
My neurosurgeon said, “If you have to have a brain tumor, this is one of the best kinds to have.” Reflexively, I imagined giving him my best Rocky Balboa right-jab left-hook combination, but deep down I knew that I was truly fortunate.
Without treatment, the tumor would have constricted two blood vessels, leading to a stroke or hemorrhage. The growth itself, if left unheeded, would have caused permanent right-side motor deficits and immobility. I wouldn’t have survived to collect full Social Security benefits.
Surgery and radiation treatment were successful. The tumor was benign and I’ve made a nearly complete recovery. I’m told that I can, and should, lead a normal and healthy life. I was lucky.
Very, very lucky.
In light of recent events, I’m inclined to reevaluate our 40-year retirement horizon. Maybe I’ll lower expectations, at least for me, to a more realistic 25 or 30 additional years. Perhaps we’ll live a little larger, a little less frugally, and travel more in the near future, rather than wait until the perfect time arrives.
I don’t want my positive outlook on life to change. I’m committed to living each day to its fullest. I still want to think I’m immortal. Only now, the small voice in the back of my head recommends that, for the sake of financial planning, my statistical life expectancy should be reduced.
Perhaps I’ll now consider myself only 80% immortal.
Jeffrey K. Actor, PhD, was a professor at a major medical school in Houston for more than 25 years, serving as an academic researcher with interests in how immune responses function to fight pathogenic diseases. Jeff’s retirement goals are to write short science fiction stories, volunteer in the community and spend time in his garden. Check out his earlier articles.
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Jeff –
Only problem with this article is I’ll now have to read all your other articles!
Thanks again for your balance of life’s limits and joy.
Mike
Thanks for your post, retirement decisions reminds me of having a baby; there’s never the perfect time, but there is a too late time.
We hoped Linda had a meningioma. I flew to the midwest for the surgery. It was a glioblastoma and, unfortunately, she lost the ability to walk after 6 weeks of radiation. I haven’t been back to my home in over 3 years. All the retirement travel, etc. we planned hasn’t happened. But we start year 4 next month which is rare for a glio patient. But I have faith that God wants me here to help her and thats a blessing. I just think this disease will end up ruining both our lives.
Rex, Our thoughts and prayers go to you and your family.
Jeff, if you don’t mind, what kind of brain tumor did you have? Was it a meningioma which is a benign tumor?
Thankfully it was a benign meningioma, with complications due to its surrounding of the superior sagittal sinus, restricting blood flow. The majority was surgically removed, but a small portion of the mass was left behind so as to not risk damaging/slicing vessels. Gamma knife radiation seems to have been successful, with no growth after 9 months.
Yes, they are benign but depending on where they grow and how big they grow they can do damage. So glad your noggin is ok now!
As in real estate … location, location, location.
Great article Jeffrey. Thanks for your honesty. I was taught to plan for the worst and hope for the best. It’s a difficult balance between not living too miserly an existence, and bit blowing it all too soon. All you can do is do your best, and make decisions based on the data you have. Sounds like you have done great job. I hope to read each succeeding decade’s update on your health and wealth.
Just landed in the US and glad to have this article in my reading catch up. Congratulations on the planning and on taking action to stay fit and healthy. And on beating your tumor of course.
Thank you.
Time: the great unknowable that we all deal with in the investment world. When I was working, we would routinely plan for a minimum 5-10 year time horizon, with the assumption that planning for life to age 100 was just good practice. Now, at age 75, with several health issues and facing the reality of what the decline in physical and mental ability really looks like as we age, I am beginning to reevaluate my personal planning horizon. The good news is that I think I can afford to live to age 100, but am less certain as to how to plan for the reality of actually living that long.
It is almost easier to financially plan for the near future, since expenses and desires are more clearly defined. Planning expenses for the long term is frustrating, especial since estimating the cost of health care a decade or two away is tricky at best.
Nice article Jeff – well done on the planning. Take those trips and enjoy life and let the mortality be ruled by the universe – everyone has to die someday :-). PS: all HD readers – please check out this book – easy read but very powerful messages to address when living. https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed/dp/140194065X
Definately try to live life with a purpose, including the years prior to retirement. It is guaranteed to reduce the number of regrets at the end.
I’m glad you are taking your health seriously and doing all the right things. You have a positive outlook and a great sense of humor – together, those are worth at least 30 years! I look forward to your next article and enjoy the humor you bring to my day. p.s. I could only do 15 girl pushups…so looks like I need to up my game.
Cheryl, This time, it was your comments that made me smile this morning!
Glad the brain tumor story had such a happy ending! Also, entirely in favor of traveling while you’re (still) healthy. I have always done my financial planning on the basis of living to 100 – one of my grandparents almost made it and another died in her 90s. I’ve long outlived the other two. That means that each year my plan has to cover fewer years – I’ll be down to 23 this year.
Hope you too have at least 23 more years of interesting travels!
Advances in the medical world have been amazing. That and a great attitude have been your big plus. Thank you for a great article.
All of the retirement calculations you’ve done are impressive. It looks like you could say you’ve never met a retirement calculation you didn’t like. 🙂
Please hang in there and write another article for HD.
I appreciate the encouragement, just as much as a good calculation.
I enjoyed reading this article. I love your optimistic mindset, and agree with your desire to travel now rather than waiting until the “time is right”. I suspect this is the right time, right now!
Jack, Coincidentally, Jonathan just accepted a “travel” piece from my pen that should run early next month. Yep! No time like the present!
Jeff, those of us who read all the Humble Dollar articles really appreciate the sharing of various intimate details of life included in articles like this one.
I had someone take a look at our situation and the future, and assured us that we can make it to age 200 from a financial point of view. Now, all we have to do is to live that long,,,,,
Sounds like you’ve done some great planning. 200 … hmmm… Careful what you wish for! 😉
Care to elaborate on the Barrett’s syndrome?
John, It is a condition caused by weak connection muscles (valve) between the esophagus and the stomach. Stomach acid leaks upward, causing increased turnover of cells at the junction, which can lead to mutations arising during fast replacement cell growth. It is controlled using acid reflux reducers, such as Prevacid. That’s how my symptoms are controlled.
Hmmm….and I always feel younger when I read your articles because I went to school at the university across the street from where you worked. But maybe immortality is not in this world? All the same, I also find it very hard to actually incorporate death into my scenario planning :-). My younger sister dying this year of brain cancer didn’t help!
I am sorry to hear of the loss of your sister. Keep her memories near to your heart.
Jeff..what a great read and recognition that immortality is fleeting over time due to awareness of real life issues. Flexibility to adapt and a willingness to change course when needed are good attributes to have as we enter the 4th Qtr. of our lives. Glad your doing well and I too look forward to reading your contributions to this site for many many years.
Thank you. It’s been fun to contribute, and hope to continue for the foreseeable future.
I am glad to hear that you are doing better. I am not yet retired and I have had major heart surgery, a stroke, and as a nice kicker, CLL. So I can relate. Have you messed around with https://ficalc.app/ ?? Its pretty cool.
Great website, Dwain. I can’t stop playing with the tool. Very thought-provoking resource. Thanks!
We all need to keep a positive outlook on what life has dealt us. Hope you are doing well. And, thank you for the link to the site. Great suggestion!
Hey Jeff,
Congratulations on your successful treatment.
Regarding your response to Dick Quinn below. How about using the philosophy that Adam Grossman wrote about not long ago about going half way when it comes to claiming Social Security. You could claim the lower wage earner’s benefits now, and delay the higher earner’s until 70?
Also, thanks for giving me a new toy, er tool to use, the Bogleheads’ “variable percentage withdrawal” spreadsheet.
David, Thanks. Adam’s article was superb! We are definately toying with the idea of starting my spouse’s SS next calendar year. The trick is that we also wish to convert tIRA dollars to Roth, so we have to ponder the tax consequences.
Having watched my 20-something daughter get seriously injured in two car accidents in 14 months and several of my friends die in their 60s, my thoughts tend to lean towards the gloomier end of the spectrum. You just realize that anything can happen—fast. At the same time, it’s prudent to plan both financially and otherwise for (much) longer. Keeping those truths in tension is indeed a challenge.
I’m glad to hear that your health scare resolved as well as it did, and I’m not surprised that it made you (re)think.
Indeed, it is quite the challenge to balance that “tension”!
Congrats on the brain surgery outcome and good luck-great piece. Health is critical-and I can relate just a bit as I also have a genetic variant of hyperlipidemia-high Lp(a)-and had a skin cancer removed on my forehead that was up against a nerve threatening to go to my brain (which has a left a nice dent). I am also on board with investing in health to increase one’s healthspan and also front-loading retirement with travel and activities.
Rob, I’m happy you beat cancer! I also did with the prostate version. Well, it’s only been 26 months since the operation, but things are going fine. We are brothers!
Years ago I took a trip to Sedona Az to a health resort to learn more health tips than the doctors will tell a person. The first thing that struck me was how far from natural our food in this country has become. For 2 weeks we ate food that was close to how it is grown with no spices. No one enjoyed this fodder at first. In the time, our taste changed to really taste that carrot, or baked squash.
One huge attack on our health is our mostly unnatural food.
When I came back to the real world, I found the biggest threat to my new way of a healthy life was my family and friends. They will attack any notion of eating simple, bland food.
Being healthy is a lifelong task and may even alienate us.
Stay the course Rob!
Rob I have done some deep dives on the high LPa.You really need to get after all your modifiable ASCVD risks cause there isn’t much we can do about the genetic LPa. Best of luck to you
There are some new injectable biologics that have shown success. Repatha has a great track record to lower levels.
You can go off label and try the PCSK9s but the FDA hasn’t approved anything in the clinical trials yet
Rob, Sounds like you’ve made a positive choice to increase the odds by investing in your health, while at the same time hedging your bets to enjoy life in the near future!
I find all the unknowns of retirement planning daunting and frustrating. Especially the advice about guesstimating your life expectancy based on “how long your family lives.” My parents, whose heyday was the Madmen era, were from a very different generation than me, health wise. They smoked and drank with abandon and had different lifelong medical care and less healthy eating habits. One died at age 66 (heart failure), the other at age 82 (cancer). What does that tell me about my life expectancy?
My husband’s parents both died around age 90. BUT he is the 7th of 7 kids and has watched each and every older sibling suffer or die from severe heart issues by age 70. Then he, at a very healthy-seeming age 58, had a surprise “heart event” (now monitored and well controlled, supposedly). Something obviously “runs in the family.” He plans to take SS at his FRA but also raises his eyebrows when I run scenarios for how to stretch out our funds to get us both to age 90 and beyond.
As Jeffrey says, keeping both your current self (‘go go’ spending) and perhaps a much older self (‘no go’ spending) in mind simultaneously is tricky.
The need for that balance may be the case for annuities though I have not pursued.
Jeff, this was well-written and an interesting read. Thanks for sharing so personally. In my gut, I like to think I have about 20-25 years left. My mind tells me I have no idea.
Ken, Thank you. I’m appreciative that the HumbleDollar community provides a safe spot for these types of articles alongside the financial tips and related ideas.
I look forward to reading your articles for at least the next 25 years!
Jeff, incredible story and even more incredible attitude you have. I’m not sure i could do that.
Nothing wrong with being over cautious with investments. Two questions.
Have you ever calculated what amount your investments generate in interest, dividends and capital gain distributions and how close that may come to 3-4%?
Also, why delay SS beyond FRA. Are the additional dollars worth using other funds.
Based on elimination of SALT deduction, creation of IRMMA, and budget realities I felt waiting until FRA or 70 was a risk. I will not maximize SSA but sometimes the enemy of the good is the better. Plus the lower payment over a longer period will be an advantage when RMA’s start to come due.
If you draw down your traditional IRA to pay for the years until you start Social Security, you’ll reduce future RMDs — which are 100% taxable — and replace them with higher Social Security payments, which at most are 85% taxable.
Thanks for your comments. I inherited a positive attitude from my father, and it continues to serve me well. Especially during challenging times.
The question regarding earnings on savings is a great one. Never thought about being too cautious from that perspective. Interest, dividends and distributions would generate nearly 50% of our budget. If we both took SS now, that would bring the total close to 90% current spending. However, I’ve always liked the idea of having the guaranteed growth (plus inflation protection) of the SS. Perhaps I need to reevaluate my plan.
SS is designed from an actuarial standpoint to deliver, on average life expectancy, the same number of dollars regardless of when you begin. This means that you need to live around 11-12 years beyond your post FRA start date to collect dollars you missed by waiting. This isn’t to suggest that you wait, only that you consider these details. Your survivor spouse, assuming that your benefit is greater than theirs, will receive whatever level of benefit you are getting when you die.
Two additional thoughts: 1) Folks who visit this site tend to be better educated and wealthier than most, both factors associated with better-than-average life expectancy (probably three or four years longer than average); and 2) the financial risk is asymmetrical. In other words, if you claim Social Security early and die young, you’ll be ahead financially but dead, so it won’t do you much good. What if you claim early and live longer than average? You’ll be behind financially — and very much alive. I’d rather delay Social Security and ensure my older self has plenty of inflation-adjusted, government-guaranteed, tax-favored lifetime income.
Whistling past the graveyard is what my grandfather used to say. I foresee a significant reduction in Social Security benefits for those of us who have diligently saved for an extended retirement. If I had it to do over again, I’d have filed at 62. I think that most of HD readers and contributors fall into the category of diligent savers.
Agreed, Jonathan—in addition The survivor benefits for married couples cannot be overlooked. A widow or widower whose spouse waited until 70 to file for Social Security is entitled to the full amount the deceased was getting, including delayed retirement credits—so long as the surviving spouse has reached full retirement age.
Exactly. Plus, the larger the starting amount, the larger the cost-of-living adjustments.
Jeff, I appreciate the upbeat appraisal of the reality of your health status. You leave me pulling for you to live a long, full life, and hoping to read more about it.
Ed, Thank you. Your words are greatly appreciated.