Will I outlive my funds
Category Advice
The other day I read a financial article which identified expenditure items which may become unaffordable as we age. However the writer and I are obviously in different leagues.... he being concerned with the cost of cruise-liner trips, his next Mercedes, or his holiday cottage in Ballitos' running costs - while my concerns were far more basic, and essential to survival! And that made me think! The Bible states that we will live threescore years and ten, and adds that a strong person may achieve the age of eighty.(Psalm 90:10 KJV... the days of our years are threescore years and ten: and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years...). Yet today increasingly many people live to well into their nineties, with a few actually living far longer. The oldest women to have ever-lived is Jean Calment, who lived to 122! Just goes to show that we cannot believe everything that we read. But how long will our savings, investments and pensions last? And for many the answer is quite simple... Not long enough! For the ordinary man in the street some the questions that need to be asked are: When our 15-year old vehicle breaks down... can we afford to replace it? Out children live in Hermanus --- how will we get there without our own car? (And thanks to Putin and the Ukrainian War, the cost of air-flights are unaffordable ... if you can find an airline still operating in South Africa!) As we age, our medical infirmities increase... and so too does the cost! Will we be able to afford it? We used to travel to visit our relatives in Vryburg every few years. How will we find the money for such lengthy trips? The price of gas for heating our home has double in a matter of barely two years? Many essential food prices have been rising at an unbelievable rate, and the days when business deals were honest - were guaranteed by a handshake, are long gone. Now everyone seems to have climbed on the band wagon of making a quick buck - of taking advantage of the man in the street! These are not luxuries... the majority are necessities! So where to from here? There is a Chinese proverb which holds that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the 2nd best time is now? So... if you are still earning income start saving wisely now! Consider working longer. Plan your retirement, both facility and lifestyle, frugally so as to eke out your limited retirement funding. And in later years if/when ill-health perhaps requires unaffordable medical fees... Think hard! Eskimos are reputed to have walked out into the snow, and euthanized themselves in order to lessen the burden their ageing might place on younger family members... in my view we too owe our families at least that much. What is really the point of undergoing costly surgery and ongoing medical treatment at say 85 years of age, if it means that the costs will denude the coffers to the extent that it will impact negatively on your loved ones? Life is about the quality of years, rather than the quantity! ....................
Author: Henry Spencer