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Cut-Throat
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Cut-Throat said:After a few Heart attacks and broken bones suffered in the process my FIL has arrived in a nursing home for rehabilitation. I have spent the last week visiting cardiac wards, nursing homes etc. etc. - The FIL really hopes he could just die! - He is tired, spouse has been dead for 10 years and everything in life is just painful!
After seeing lots of folks in their 80's lying about, mostly wanting to die and the hospitals and family's trying to 'save' them, it makes spending the evening in the garage with a $200 bottle of a good cabernet look pretty good.
I see a lot of folks on this board planning to live to 95, 105 even 120! - I wonder how many of them have ever seen even age 90 up close and in average health (which is usually not very good).
Folks hear talk about Stock market reality! - The real reality is spending a week in IC unit in a heart hospital!, visiting a nursing home. - This is always a reminder for me!
wabmester said:My wife and I both have grandparents who lived to 90+ in pretty good health. I agree that there is a certain point in which quality of life gets low enough that pulling the trigger looks like a good alternative. I think it's too hard for me to nail down all possibilities in a health care directive, but I'll know it when I see it.
BTW, everybody knows that our health care system is geared towards addressing acute problems rather than prevention, but I think there is a HUGE market for prevention. Many diseases, such as diabetes, CHD, and others are long-term progressive illnesses. I mean *really* long-term.
It'll probably be too late for our generation, but I think early detection and prevention will define the next wave of medicine, and life span will jump again. Healthy 120 year-olds might be a common sight.
The science of death is pretty interesting. Very few body parts really "wear out" if maintained well.
wabmester said:Very few body parts really "wear out" if maintained well.
Thanks for the reminder Cut-Throat...many of us put a lot of effort into long term financial planning, forgetting that our window of "good" years may be smaller than we expect. No doubt medical advances will continue to produce incremental gains, but there's a good reason retiree spending falls so predictabley over the years..My MIL is in assisted living @ 85 and not having much fun. Achieving balance after ER seems just as important as balance during the accumulation years. Hmmm, maybe 3.5% SWR is a bit harsh after all?Cut-Throat said:I see a lot of folks on this board planning to live to 95, 105 even 120! - I wonder how many of them have ever seen even age 90 up close and in average health (which is usually not very good).
I'm sorry your FIL is having to deal with all that pain, Cut-Throat. Too many doctors ignore pain management & hospice until it's too late.Cut-Throat said:I see a lot of folks on this board planning to live to 95, 105 even 120! - I wonder how many of them have ever seen even age 90 up close and in average health (which is usually not very good).
After seeing lots of folks in their 80's lying about, mostly wanting to die...
Too many doctors ignore pain management...