Risky Business
Monday, March 1, 2010 at 10:20AM Last week we had our monthly meeting at work. It’s a day when all of our salespeople are in the office and we are in and out of meetings all day. Pretty typical stuff I think.
Usually we have some product training by our vendors and just go over numbers and the direction of the company.
We had someone come in to talk to us about our 401k and it really got to me. She kept talking about taking risks because we are all so young and have a long life to live. She said for the older folks, they may want to switch their mutual funds to something more conservative.
At one point, she looked right at me when she said, “and those of you who are young…” and I just about crumbled.
My mortality is on my mind a lot. I have always felt I was dealt a lousy hand and diabetes kind of confirmed it. My family history is awful so the odds of an old and gray ninja are pretty slim. That not only scares me, because of my wife and kids, but depresses me.
I have mentioned my fears to my doctor and he thinks I am just some sort of Emo dude who wants to die. Not the case. I am a realist and since both my father and his father died of heart attacks at very young ages (my dad was 43) it goes without saying that I probably inherited some of those bum genes.
So be it.
But in a case like this do I take the risky route and act the way a “young” guy does or have I already passed the halfway mark? I am almost 37. I am sure I have.
Do you feel you should take the same risks with your retirement that say someone without diabetes would? I know not everyone is lucky enough to have this problem but still, it is a problem.
What do you do?
Reader Comments (8)
Nope, not here.
Plan for tomorrow, but live for today. That's my motto.
We have a retirement. And we made sure we had life insurance--before we were married, "just in case." 401k's are just another assurance we've set up for ourselves for the future.
And yes, mortality is on our minds a lot more. The doctors are great to remind you of that.
Always in the back of our minds. We don't have kids to worry about, but we want to make sure that we plan ahead in case of complications. If we lost G's income, it would be difficult. (Me, not so much...)
Good, realistic questions and concerns, G. Have them on my mind a lot, myself (being only 31 but T1 for 26 years). We have hardly saved anything, haven't yet started our family that we want to (that creates a whole 'nother topic of concern and discussion...) and I worry that I'm well past my half-way mark. I feel that retirement funds aren't really something I'm all that concerned about, at least not for me - more for my wife and whatever future family may be in store. Guess that's why I have a life insurance policy, too. 401k is moderate, or so I'm told. Same logic applies. Morbid? Maybe. But I do want to be prepared and have things in order, just in case. Risk management, I say.
I plan on living forever. So far, so good.
I've had a 401K since I was 22, but so far haven't contributed a ton. I am in debt and that ways heavily on my mind. Erik is very proactive, has little debt, and contributes the max. I plan on contributing to my 401K at my new company when I'm eligible in June, and contributing as much as my income/expenses allows. I won't contribute to a Roth IRA until I am out of debt, however (I actually wrote about all this on Friday).
As of right now, I don't have an expiration date or even a hint of an expiration date. I don't plan on living as if I have one.
I've had a life insurance policy since I was 12--it was one of the first things my mom did when I was diagnosed, she was told it would be hard for me to get insurance when I got older. Now I wonder if it was just some morbid sales gimmick, but glad to have a little tucked away just in case. Like you I have a pretty bad family history of heart problems taking people young (my mom at 55, her mom at 42), so I'm hoping the long-lived genes from my dad's side give me better odds.
I guess I've never really thought much about retirement because I figured I'd be working way past 65 anyway, since Social Security will be broke by the time we Gen X'ers are able to cash in. I've never had a great retirement plan at work so my 401(k) is kind of anemic. The D has been a factor but not a huge one for the last 10-15 years or so.
"Pray to God, but row away from the rocks" is what I always say...:-)
I am cautious with my 401k contributions. Because, well, I am conservative in nature. Not a big risk taker here. I also have a Roth IRA I started. I have life insurance through my work. I didn't do all this because of D, but more because when we are retired, I don't want to have to be terribly concerned.
This is a good post G-Money. I think about it often too, mostly, as Mike says, to leave something for the family. I feel really vulnerable now because I'm flirting with the self-employment thing, which means no company sponsored life insurance or disability insurance. I hate it, and I hate even more not having the financial resources to cover my family's rear end should something happen to me.