6 ms·

The biggest thing we get wrong is living like we will live forever and assuming we will never die and therefore never prepare for it whether it be financially o

The biggest thing we get wrong is living like we will live forever and assuming we will never die and therefore never prepare for it whether it be financially or spiritually

tw1010 9y ago
How should one prepare financially for the fact that you're going to die one day?
- wildleaf 9y ago
  Have money to be independent in your final years so that you can be cared for appropriately without burdening your family.
  - melling 9y ago
    That could be a decade or more. For instance, some people are living longer because of medical advances. Alzheimer’s might be more of a problem as more people live into their 80’s, 90’s... https://www.livescience.com/59261-alzheimers-deaths-increase.html https://www.livescience.com/59261-alzheimers-deaths-increase...
    - ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
      That's true but it doesn't effect what GP said. Many of us on HN are in professions where we are able to save enough money to live without being productive after the age of 65. But also many of the people reading this will be 50 years old and have the option to purchase a second (vacation home), or a boat, or a fancy sports car, OR completely secure their retirement. Many of us will choose one of these luxury items and hope everything works out rather than saving for a retirement that could last into our 90's.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - matte_black 9y ago
        And many still might forego those luxury items and instead save for retirement, only to be dead, buried and forgotten at 71, all the same. It’s a balance. Money, Age, Enjoyment. Most can choose two, some can choose all, and some can choose none.
      - jcadam 9y ago
        I'm 37 and am counting on effective anti-aging treatments to come along before I'm too old to work. Then I won't need to retire and can continue working for the man until the end of time.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
  - dh-g 9y ago
    And for those who don't have that option / affluence?
    - wildleaf 9y ago
      Then you'll have to rely on your family. I have an elderly neighbor with no money/family and it's quite depressing. She often can't feed herself or clean her apartment due to chronic pain. She's bipolar, suffers from COPD, and lives in filth. She can't afford any kind of assisted living, and has to rely on her rapidly diminishing friends (who're old and dying) to help her get through the day.
- kingnothing 9y ago
  Prepare for your end of life costs as well as what will happen to the remainder of your assets and debts. Write a will. Talk with an estate attorney. Consider adding names of your loved ones to your bank accounts and assets in order to avoid probate. I'm not a lawyer or accountant, but I had to deal with the financial aspects of an unexpected death in my family. Had there been any kind of planning, it would have made everything much easier for those who were survived, and saved a large amount of money that the estate had to pay out during the probate process.
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
As you get older and your loved ones (e.g. parents) start leaving, you become much more aware of your own mortality! I lost my last parent this year, and it bothers me a lot that my mom left at 59 and dad left at 70.
JoshTriplett 9y ago
The biggest thing we get wrong is assuming we will live forever without taking specific steps to make that more likely to happen. By far the most important open problem to be solved, and not nearly enough attention or resources on it. I wish we treated the elimination of aging and age-related degeneration the way we do traveling to the Moon, or Mars.
- zipwitch 9y ago
  We treat them almost exactly the same. As the province of starry-eyed dreamers to whom we pay lip service while only allowing them a pittance in comparison to what we spend on wars, enriching the few at the expense of the many, and indulging our varied desires for swift gratification.
elwell 9y ago
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart;" - Ecclesiastes 3:11

The biggest thing we get wrong is living like we will live forever and assuming we will never die and therefore never prepare for it whether it be financially or spiritually

tw1010 9y ago

How should one prepare financially for the fact that you're going to die one day?

wildleaf 9y ago
Have money to be independent in your final years so that you can be cared for appropriately without burdening your family.
- melling 9y ago
  That could be a decade or more. For instance, some people are living longer because of medical advances. Alzheimer’s might be more of a problem as more people live into their 80’s, 90’s... https://www.livescience.com/59261-alzheimers-deaths-increase.html https://www.livescience.com/59261-alzheimers-deaths-increase...
  - ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
    That's true but it doesn't effect what GP said. Many of us on HN are in professions where we are able to save enough money to live without being productive after the age of 65. But also many of the people reading this will be 50 years old and have the option to purchase a second (vacation home), or a boat, or a fancy sports car, OR completely secure their retirement. Many of us will choose one of these luxury items and hope everything works out rather than saving for a retirement that could last into our 90's.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - matte_black 9y ago
      And many still might forego those luxury items and instead save for retirement, only to be dead, buried and forgotten at 71, all the same. It’s a balance. Money, Age, Enjoyment. Most can choose two, some can choose all, and some can choose none.
    - jcadam 9y ago
      I'm 37 and am counting on effective anti-aging treatments to come along before I'm too old to work. Then I won't need to retire and can continue working for the man until the end of time.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- dh-g 9y ago
  And for those who don't have that option / affluence?
  - wildleaf 9y ago
    Then you'll have to rely on your family. I have an elderly neighbor with no money/family and it's quite depressing. She often can't feed herself or clean her apartment due to chronic pain. She's bipolar, suffers from COPD, and lives in filth. She can't afford any kind of assisted living, and has to rely on her rapidly diminishing friends (who're old and dying) to help her get through the day.
kingnothing 9y ago
Prepare for your end of life costs as well as what will happen to the remainder of your assets and debts. Write a will. Talk with an estate attorney. Consider adding names of your loved ones to your bank accounts and assets in order to avoid probate. I'm not a lawyer or accountant, but I had to deal with the financial aspects of an unexpected death in my family. Had there been any kind of planning, it would have made everything much easier for those who were survived, and saved a large amount of money that the estate had to pay out during the probate process.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

As you get older and your loved ones (e.g. parents) start leaving, you become much more aware of your own mortality! I lost my last parent this year, and it bothers me a lot that my mom left at 59 and dad left at 70.

JoshTriplett 9y ago

The biggest thing we get wrong is assuming we will live forever without taking specific steps to make that more likely to happen. By far the most important open problem to be solved, and not nearly enough attention or resources on it. I wish we treated the elimination of aging and age-related degeneration the way we do traveling to the Moon, or Mars.

zipwitch 9y ago
We treat them almost exactly the same. As the province of starry-eyed dreamers to whom we pay lip service while only allowing them a pittance in comparison to what we spend on wars, enriching the few at the expense of the many, and indulging our varied desires for swift gratification.

elwell 9y ago

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart;" - Ecclesiastes 3:11