PCa and retirement

Kbota,

Until April 13 of this year I thought I would continue to work until I was 70. I own my own my business and my office and warehouse in are my home basement so work to 70 was no problem, I thought.  I had been in great health with blood pressure well under control and low cholesterol. Because of family heart disease issues I had regular heart check ups and monitoring and my Cardo tells me I have a heart of a 40 year old, which I took to mean I could work to 70 with no problems.  I didn't know I had family history of PC until after my Dx. My Grandfather had untreated PC but died from heart disease in late 70's. His father died in his 50's from cancer that was never identified by family, but we suspect now it was PC.

After my DX on April 13th and my RALP in June I am not going to work beyond my eligibility for medicare at 65. My wife had planned to retire next year at 62 but since my insurance is with her company she now knows she will not be able to retire until she is 65 either. Life is just too short to spend it working and fortunately we invested well over the years and will be able to enjoy retirement very comfortably.

Good luck with your future plans.

Terry the Water Guy

Count us in the "life's too short club". Woody had planned to retire at age 60, when he becomes eligible for small state pension. He already has small military pension with tricare so insurance is covered. Unfortunately of 13 siblings, 5 have already died and only 1 of those made it to age 63. Life is really just to short. He will retire at the end of this contract in June 2012 at age 57.5. Once you have enough, everything else is just more and I'd rather have more time with him than more of anything else.

Oh hell, I hated work anyway, so the decision was somewhat easier for me. Besides I had plenty on my plate with Lynn's cancer to keep me busy.

However, as regards SS, I did just a little more research. Now we were already blessed with great healthcare insurance and some financial security, but I still had to crunch the numbers. What I found surprised me.

I could draw SS at 62, 66yrs 6mos or 70. When I ran the numbers of drawing at 62 versus the others I found that I would have to live to 70yrs 7mos before I began to lose money. So taking SS at 62 was an absolutely no brainer.

Obviously having health insurance or the ability to draw from medicare will impact some decisions. But the impact on the emotional well being of giving up the working and commitment of QoL time is immeasurable.

So my vote is- IF YOU CAN DO IT - DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Don't worry about finding things to fill your time in life. I am busier than anybody I know that has a full time job. But I know that I am much happier in my busy than they are in theirs, I don't care how much they say they love their work.

Sonny

No choice here. Have to work until I qualify for Medicare or magic happens so I become filthy rich to pay for individual insurance.

Let's talk about it in Rochester.

Goodlife

I first retired in "98 and got bored after a year and set up a logistics consulting company which I've been running until last year when I decided to quit work altogether. I think both my PC and my wife's breast cancer played a part in the decision. I gave the company to my 11 year partner and now just work for old clients if they need some help. I thought spending time with my family was more important in this stage of our lives, and live in Sanpoint Idaho 6 months of the year to be near our two boys and snowbird in Palm springs in the winter. So far it has been a good decision. So far we've not needed any medical services while in Idaho, and get all of our medical done in California when we are there.
JohnT

kbota you already know my story. I do think the GFMPH will have a discussion on retirement. Wish you could make it.. Think about flying to DC and joining us. ;)

Who will boil the crawfish at Worried Guys without you?

Cajun Jeff

I retired at 60, five years before the cancer diagnosis and treatment. One of the retirement counselors at work told me that in the whole time she worked as a counselor, only one person came back and said he felt he had retired "too soon." Retirement has allowed me to really spend time with the grandchildren, two of whom we have in our homes two days out of the week. We've traveled a bit and now wonder where I found time to work. I just don't have time for work anymore and have never missed working, although even after nearly six years of retirement I still occasionally dream I'm back in the office. Usually, in those dreams, everything in the old office is completely messed up and when things are too messed up, I tell the people in my dream, "Hey, I'm retired. You guys fix the problem."

I was able to retire because I had a good pension plan, had set some money aside, was able to carry my health insurance into retirement, had a younger wife (registered nurse) who continued to work part-time, and had other interests to pursue. Everyone's situation is different, but I had a good friend who worked with me die prematurely and I was determined to get out before that happened to me.

I think most people know when they're "ready." If you're "on the fence" as you say, it's possible you're not yet mentally ready.

DaSlink,

That is terrible that you can't get hired with PC. Wont your union do something about that?  What are all those years of paying dues been for? What total BS.  Have you talked with Purgatory about getting on SS disability? I believe he finally got it this year.  With all the worthless trash and lazy worthless people on SSD for made up and faked injuries there should be some justice for those with cancer and can't legitimately work. I wish nothing but the best in this quest.

Terry

I may be retiring early due to a similar situation as DaSlink. Already it was tough to get employers willing to take on a 52-year-old with skills from a declining industry. And most job interviews I have been to, seem to want to see how enthusiastic I will be to work weekends and well into the night at busy times. Now I can only imagine it won't help when I say, "Oh bye the way, I may have to take off about 3 months for prostate surgery recovery sometime in the near future". Then when I do recover, I'll have to find an employer that will be somewhat sympathetic to such things as frequent washroom visits. (Which was cause for comments at my last place of employment.)

On the plus side, the mortgage is paid, we have medical coverage in Canada, I have a reasonably good investment portfolio and my wife has a decent job. So it may mean some cutting but we can manage.

On the minus side, my wife would like to see me working and being at home gives me too much time with nobody but myself for company (and "myself" can sometimes be a depressing fellow when he spends too much time alone). I am looking at volunteering, however.

"Don't retire. Your brain needs the exercise or it will atrophy" (James Watson, Nobel Prize winner for discovery of DNA)

I've been gainfully employed ever since I had a newspaper route as a kid. I like what I do, am lucky to be in good health and am 5-years post prostate cancer treatment, and need the money. I plan to work until 70 amd wait to 70 before collecting SS benefits, in order to maximize social security payout.

There are a lot of circumstances where it doesn't make sense for someone to keep working, and I respect those decisions.

I retired early and thus had a few years of it before Pca. Ironically if I hadn't taken my early out I would've been diagnosed right when I was supposed to retire. What a bummer that would've been. I'm fortunate though as a federal government retiree to have excellent medical insurance.