Worst case scenario.

[youbet]

Well, worst case scenario is that one could die in an airplane crash with his whole family, but if you look back at the OP's question, he put it in the context of losing your job right now and how it would affect your ER plans.

IOW, what would happen if you had no more earned income?

True, true retire@40. My comments were more philosophical and in consideration of the fact that most folks that post here have enjoyed, or are in the midst of enjoying, lives with significant financial advantages.

I just have trouble thinking of having no more earned income in terms of a "worst case scenario." I'd probably call it a financial setback or something like that. In any case, no big deal, and an interesting discussion regardless of the terminology.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Everybody's got their own definition of "reasonable caution" and "fretting obsessively". I had enough atom bombs drop on my life at formative years that hoping for the best but preparing for the worst has become natural. S%*t happens. That said, I've had a spectacular life thus far and really wouldn't change most of those things in retrospect. Spending time thinking through every worst case scenario is pretty much a hardwired part of my personality, so instead of being paralyzed by those thoughts, I spend my time in risk management and planning my responses ahead of time.

And then whatever weird thing that never occurred to my free-floating anxiety will happen, I'll shrug, and improvise.

Sounds like you are planning within your tolerance range. That's not obsessive fretting to me, it's common sense. But even as a self-described fretter, I'd bet you run into things where you just say the heck with it, you can't reasonably neutralized every conceivable risk.

I happen to work in a place where I see both young and old unexpectedly die every day. Usually it's from something they could not have predicted or avoided. Brings a whole new meaning to "worst case scenario."

Occasionally if the context is right I might ask them if there is anything they would do differently if they knew this was going to happen. The answer rarely has to do with money; it almost always has to do with how they would have spent their time.

 

[OKLibrarian]

But even as a self-described fretter, I'd bet you run into things where you just say the heck with it, you can't reasonably neutralized every conceivable risk.

*nods* just because I could die in a plane crash or catch ebola I'm not about to change my plans for copious amounts of world travel. your manage the risks you can manage, and just hope for the best on the others.

 

[Gumby]

..

 

[chinaco]

I would hope DW would work for another 4 years so we could get company Health care ins... I might slowly look for work .

Health care is the main concern.

Bottom line. If we both lost our jobs... that would kill our plans for health care from the companies. We probably would get jobs to earn additional money to cover the (unexpected) cost of Health care. Plus, that would allow our Portfolio to (hopefully) grow another 4 years before we begin consuming it.

If forced to retire (and no extraordinary expenses surfaced), we could continue our current expense levels adjused for inflation for the rest of our lives.

 

[Sam]

Thanks Chicano for steering the thread back on track. Reading some of the previous response was quite painful. I keep going back between the thread title hoping to find any remote relevance.

 

[tryan]

Health care is the main concern.

Yup, any dooms day scenario includes health care costs or availability. Haven forbid one of the 4 of us got some life long disease which made our individual health care cost prohibitive.

Heard I can work at Home Depot 20 hours/wk and get group coverage. And I already know the store like the back of my hand.

 

[bssc]

My worst case, but then the dogs sue the cats for their fair share and it gets all over the tabloids! But it is good to know that we arent' the only ones with an estate plan that includes pet care!

Sarah

We only have cats. However, they could sue each other.

 

[Nords]

And I already know the store like the back of my hand.

I've heard that Home Depot is interested in hiring their first employee with those skills...

 

[bssc]

I've heard that Home Depot is interested in hiring their first employee with those skills...

That's only because they bought out Nardelli for $220 million or so. He was against people with that skill set. Even burger flippers were discouraged because they might us the outside grill section to earn a little money on the side.