When planning our retirement we have to consider many financial and non-financial aspects. But retirement planning must be flexible because there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to the future. Knowing that and experiencing it are two different things. A lesson I learned when recently bitten by a common post-retirement risk, having a major medical scare. Ten years into early retirement and now my plan and the way I think about retirement may go through major changes. 

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Medical Scare – Probably The Most Common Post-Retirement Risk

There are a few post-retirement risks that we can encounter. Unlike inflation or a recession that can impact our retirement finances, a health threat can dig deep into finances, lifestyle, and sometimes even our life expectancy. Although we do our best to avoid long-term harm from any post-retirement risk, sometimes our best isn’t enough. Especially a sudden and serious medical scare that can hit anyone at anytime. 

This is a cautionary tale about how little things can get overlooked and written off when something silently lurks but needs immediate attention before it’s too late. Something we should avoid for both financial and non-financial aspects of retirement. Sometimes a sequence of seemingly random little things are interconnected, turning into something large and dangerous to our lives and plans.

Making Health A Retirement Priority

I have made my health a priority in my early retirement. I hike, bike, weight train 3 days a week, and do cardio workouts on an elliptical 5 days a week. Basically with everything else I do I’m pretty active. I have never smoked, have my medical physical every year, bi-annual dental cleaning, and take my prescribed medications along with several vitamins and supplements. Moderation is used for alcohol, red meat, fatty foods, and sweets. Even so, I recognize now there are areas of improvement needed.

A Minor Injury, Just Like Hundreds Of Times Before 

It was more of an inconvenience or annoyance than an injury. While working on my car I slightly strained my knee by hyper-extending it. It was sore for a couple of days like any similar injury we casually write-off in life. The only thing remarkable about it was that my leg also felt tight. It eventually felt better other than a slight pain in my calf. It didn’t slow me down and it too passed after a couple of weeks. I was over it and never gave it another thought.

Ten Weeks Later Something Else Odd and Discounted

My wife and I were talking and walking through our Art Festival when I had to stop to catch my breath. It lasted all but 5 or 10 seconds and then everything was fine. The next day another few second episode while exercising on the elliptical. Odd, but I still just powered through it and went on with life. A few days later I wake up to that same leg injured many weeks before being swollen with pounding pain. I called my doctor’s office and it was recommended that I immediately visit the emergency room. 

Big Bad DVT and Right Lung PE

Once in the ER, blood work, ultrasound, and CT scan eventually found I was lucky to be walking the earth. My right lung was plugged up with clots from top to bottom and basically offline. I was living on one lung at 6,200 feet elevation’s oxygen levels. Fortunately my left lung was clot spared and up to the task. All of this because I hyper-extended my knee causing a bleed and clot many weeks before. Something I would have never considered happening to me.

Treatment and Surgery

Life has since revolved around heavy doses of blood thinner that included 25 days of miserable stomach injections every 12 hours. There was also a two day surgical procedure to clear the large clot in my leg and spending three days in the ICU. My retirement life at this time still revolves around blood thinner medication, compression socks, and avoiding any chance of getting scratched, cut, or bumping my head. The long-term treatment verdict is still out for a few months. There’s a 50/50 chance I will be on one of those expensive blood thinners for life. 

Will My Medical Scare Change My Retirement?

It certainly has opened my eyes to my mortality. I have had a lot to think about while taking it easy as directed to me the past 3 months. I was cursed in one way and blessed in many others. Cursed because the clot didn’t present itself as a clot for so long. Blessed because when it finally did I still had a chance. I also felt blessed to be retired and have the time to concentrate on recovery. 

Things will and have changed in my retirement lifestyle and potentially even some financial aspects 

At this time long-term treatment decisions are still months away as we await evaluation of my healing. If it’s determined that I need to stay on one of those new safer and effective blood thinners for life then my retirement budget will need to be addressed. It will need to cover a new expense of over $400 a month until deductibles are met for the medication once the manufacturer $10 co-pay coupon I got expires.  

I will also have to rethink some of my lifestyle activities if on the medication. I have taken many minor bumps and falls while mountain biking. That could cause serious problems if on blood thinning medication. Possibly limit biking to my slow lane beach cruiser bike. All the things I do that I have found it impossible to never bruise myself or bleed because of a cut or scrape to my hands or arms will have to be rethought. Including working on my car, major landscape, and house maintenance or improvements. That will bring another adjustment to my budget to cover paying for work done that I used to do myself. Much earlier than my previous old age budget plan.

Things that will definitely change –

More than ever I see that we kid ourselves into thinking we can control everything. Life is finite, my retirement freedom is valuable, and I want it to last with quality as long as possible. It was a real bummer when this all happened. There’s a slight feeling of loss because I really loved the early retirement lifestyle I’ve created. But having to make changes and even sacrifices is part of countering any post-retirement risk that we encounter. I think I have moved past lamenting any loss, kicking myself for ignoring little things that grew into a giant threat, and I’m now looking toward my future. 

I’m not as tough as I used to think I was 

When something doesn’t feel right I can’t just power through it. I’ll need to change the way I approach my health and do a lot better about seeing my Doctor. I shouldn’t ignore any kind of lingering pain or odd events like a quick bout of shortness of breath.

I will definitely limit time sitting or standing still for too long. 

I’ve always limited extended sitting because of back pain. But now I will get up even more. Standing still waiting in long lines will also end. I also have a new appreciation for limiting anything that I don’t want around me or don’t want to waste time with. The top of the list are rude, pushy, and bullying people. I also have an even lower tolerance towards traffic, unwanted obligation, and manipulation. Life is too short to put up with crap.

Other lifestyle and health change on tap that have been put off or half-assed

I am really motivated to hit my long made weight loss goals. I hope this will also reduce the chances of a repeat DVT. Since this all started I am 40% towards my overall goal. Without exercise it’s all been about portion control and food choices. Once I can start doing more physically I should be able to hit my target. 

I’ll also pay better attention to my hydration. Something that slips past me when I am busy or playing hard. I think I will find many other little adjustments that will add up to big health benefits. 

It’s Easier To Miss Signs Of A Post-Retirement Risk Than We Think

Mixed signals and overlooked or discounted negative events can lead us to miss threats to our retirement and life. Occasional budget overruns, a poor investment return, cloudy economic signs, and issues associated with our health can sneak up on us. 

Optimism and confidence are welcome attributes but not when we let it blind us. I can’t help but remember how we all took a big hit with the market collapse in 2008-2009 and the recession. That is how it felt when the post-retirement risk of a health crisis hit me. There were mixed signals and overconfidence that had me power through it on my own when I should have had professional assistance to possibly catch what was coming my way. 

It’s a reminder that even with the best of plans and proactive retirement sustainability countermeasures, things can happen and throw everything into question. There are no guarantees, so we should do everything we can to enjoy what we have and to keep it.