So sorry to hear about your diagnosis. We're in similar situations (similar ages, net worth, and med issues, though different diseases). Two things come to mind:
4. What else should I be thinking about or taking into consideration now that I have a medical situation like this? I know how fortunate I am to not have had medical issues until this.
1) Take a look at any employer-offered disability policy you have. (I was surprised to learn that my employer-sponsored disability policy included "partial disability," which helped lessen the financial blow of part-time work.) Also look at your employer's/state's medical leave policies. And know that if you're eligible for FMLA, you can take it sporadically to deal with flares if need be. You can also ask your workplace for accommodations. My employer has been far more willing to work with me than I ever expected, allowing me to work part-time and mostly remote, which has been a godsend for the past few years.
2) One thing to be aware of if you retire early is that you generally need to have worked 5 of the last 10 years to be eligible for SSDI. (It can be a small amount of work, just enough to earn 20 SS credits in the last 5 years -- see https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/qualify.html). Personally, I plan to stay eligible as long as I can, and if I need to file for disability, to do so soon after I stop working. SSDI would provide about $3500 a month for me given my work history, and also provides medicare coverage after a two-year waiting period. That's more of a benefit than I thought -- I imagined it would be a pittance, because most disabled people I know did not have a significant work history and are on SSI rather than SSDI.
3) On the less financial side, people here often talk about the "go go years" of retirement. I am not sure I will have those, making me more inclined to do "bucket list" things now.
I don't know if there is one right answer here, but what I have done is keep my asset allocation the same (75/25 stocks/bonds) but started to transition my fixed income into a 30-year TIPs/Ibond ladder which could bridge me to social security if I needed it. That ladder, plus dividends from my taxable stock portfolio, would cover my basic living expenses. It looks like you have no fixed income now, and it seems like it would make sense to add some.
2. At what point do I start getting conservative? I have been investing super risky because I always felt like I could work longer if everything went to zero and that I'd always be able to work. This diagnosis can certainly change that.
Statistics: Posted by shuchong — Tue Jun 11, 2024 1:46 am — Replies 2 — Views 265