One year to live.

gcgang

gcgang

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Sep 16, 2012
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If you knew you only had one year to live, what would you do?

Assume that your health will be ok, but go down rapidly at the end of the year.
 
I wrote about a new year's resolution to live as if 2025 was the last year: Meditation Resolution

Not my resolution, but the idea to live one's life as if this were your last year puts things into focus. It might preclude some long term planning, but doesn't preclude planning for things/people that you care about after you're gone.

It seems to me that we live most of our lives with our head in the sand when it comes to our finiteness. But I think keeping that in the front of your mind will help you do meaningful things and push aside things that really don't matter.
 
I still need to complete my "book" on what DW needs to do after I'm gone. More importantly, I need to complete our estate plan.

Other than that, I can't think of too many bucket list things to do. I'd spend at least the last summer on the mainland with family and old friends. Not too different that I've been doing since FIRE.
 
MarieIG said:
@gcgang - Why do you ask?
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No idea why gcgang asked this question, but it's something that comes to MY mind occasionally. At my age of 77 and with health issues which could be life-ending, one almost inevitably finds such thoughts creeping in. Probably good to think of from time to time. I KNOW there are things to do and people to see. What if I DON'T get the one year warning?? In that case, it would have been good to "pretend" I had one year to live - sort of like sengsational is contemplating for 2025.

A few years back, a close friend got a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. They said "one year" and it turned out to be 11 months. He DID do a lot of things in that year (beyond the life-preserving treatments) knowing that his time was short.

I don't know which is better: To KNOW you have a year left or just be blissfully ignorant of your date of passing. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

SO, perhaps "pretending" (or just living "as if") is a good way to plan.
 
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1. Get my financial affairs in order - update the will, beneficiaries, etc. Maybe move some money around to minimize taxes and/or maximize flexibility for my heirs.
2. Sell everything of value that my kids wouldn't know what to do with.
3. Clean out and sell my house and move into a rental.
4. Visit a few friends.
5. Die in a controlled environment like a hospital/in-patient hospice.

A good reminder to think about what to leave behind if there is -0- advance notice of one's demise.

I'm single with 2 adult kids in their early 20's. I started a clean-up process nearly a year ago. Number 1 is done enough, a little more to do on #2. Already downsized the house to something cheaper with no mortgage to make it easy for the kids to carry until it's sold.
 
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FlaGator said:
1. Get my financial affairs in order - update the will, beneficiaries, etc.
2. Sell everything of value that my kids wouldn't know what to do with.
3. Clean out and sell my house and move into a rental.
4. Visit a few friends.
5. Die in a controlled environment like a hospital/in-patient hospice.
Click to expand...

It's a good list. But I would hesitate to move into a rental. I would want to live my last year in a familiar and comfortable setting.
 
robnplunder said:
It's a good list. But I would hesitate to move into a rental. I would want to live my last year in a familiar and comfortable setting.
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The simplicity of the estate would be a nice gesture toward those named in the estate. Otherwise, I agree that it would be nice to end your days in familiar and comfortable surroundings rather than a rental.
 
1- Call the Bank listed as the Executor of my will just to make sure they have me on their list
2- Close out as much stuff as I can myself in the mean time.
3- Leave notes all over the place with whom to call
4- As someone upstream said, arrange to have it happen in a hospital or other suitable place
5- All sorts of f%^&ing crazy S#&!
 
My BIL, we believe..we want to believe, that he never saw the end coming.

One day his friend, a former co-worker, arrived to take Tom to a scheduled, routine appointment with his primary care doc. When she arrived she found him barely able to breathe.

She called 9-1-1 and when the medics arrived they gave him O2 and had him rushed to a local hospital. He was in CA and we were in IL. This was during Covid and we were told that even if we were to fly to CA his sister would not be allowed to see him...under any circumstances.

Two days later he was diagnosed with two blood clots...leg and lung and two cancer tumors....liver and pancreas. Unbeknownst to us he also had a heart condition. One morning several days later a nurse brought him his daily heart meds which he refused...several times. The nurse told us that she stayed with him holding his hand for a while...she couldn't tell us if that was 20-minutes or an hour...until he passed. So at least someone was with him.

He had been with us the previous Christmas and we noticed he had trouble climbing stairs. He and I used to walk 3-4 miles each day but during that visit he could barely walk half a mile. We thought age was just catching up with him and we're pretty sure he has no idea just how sick he was.

The point is don't put off your dreams for you may not have the luxury of advance notice of your demise.
 
See an estate attorney and spend as much time with my family and as much time as I could at the ranch. That is where my heart is at in the outdoors and the love of the land.
I think about this scenario more as I age and live each day as if it were the last. Money is the last thing on my mind most of the time. I'm not going to let money matters like taxes ruin or rule my life. Just live life I have enough so not worried where it goes.
 
1. Review my trust and will etc with my estate attorney again to ensure that everything is in order.
2. Get rid of everything (paintings, collectibles, gold pieces etc) that I do not want my decendents to have to deal with after my death.
3. Connect/reconnect with people whom I had to talk to one more time - people who have meant alot to me.
4. Tell my loved ones, how much they mean to me. Hug them alot and assure them that everything will be alright for them after I am gone.
5. While I am still able to, play at golf courses which I have always wanted to experience in person.
6. Enjoy foods that I have abstained from because while they are delicious, they are too rich and bad for health.
 
razztazz said:
1- Call the Bank listed as the Executor of my will just to make sure they have me on their list
2- Close out as much stuff as I can myself in the mean time.
3- Leave notes all over the place with whom to call
4- As someone upstream said, arrange to have it happen in a hospital or other suitable place
5- All sorts of f%^&ing crazy S#&!
Click to expand...
As alluded to above, I'm putting together a "book" for DW including who to call for the life insurance, who to call to start 401(k) inheritance, how to give a death notice to Megacorp to claim retiree insurance, reminder to get at least a dozen death certificates from the funeral home, etc., etc.

I even plan to leave an outline of my proposed funeral service. Heh, heh, she may just dump my ashes on the pet cemetery as we have planned - but with no service. I won't be there to complain.
 
I have my affairs in order and I downsized 4 years ago. I have traveled everywhere I have wanted to go. I would spend the time enjoying my kids and friends.
 
MarieIG said:
@gcgang - Why do you ask?
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Mariel,

Very interesting you ask.

I value the input of the contributors here. I’ve been putting together my own thoughts/list, want to get ideas on what I might be leaving out.

Oh, and, yeah, just received diagnosis of GBM, glioblastoma multiforme, a month ago, so I got that goin’ for me.
 
gcgang said:
Mariel,

Very interesting you ask.

I value the input of the contributors here. I’ve been putting together my own thoughts/list, want to get ideas on what I might be leaving out.

Oh, and, yeah, just received diagnosis of GBM, glioblastoma multiforme, a month ago, so I got that goin’ for me.
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So sorry to hear this, gcgang. All our best plus blessings on you.
 
gcgang said:
Mariel,

Very interesting you ask.

I value the input of the contributors here. I’ve been putting together my own thoughts/list, want to get ideas on what I might be leaving out.

Oh, and, yeah, just received diagnosis of GBM, glioblastoma multiforme, a month ago, so I got that goin’ for me.
Click to expand...
Oh man, so sorry! Maybe surgery can keep you going, I believe my BIL had that and lasted several years I recall.
 
OP, I’m very sorry to hear this news. If there’s something you have always wanted to see or visit I would do that. Wishing you all the best.
 
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