What if you were given a cancer diagnosis today?
What would happen to your financial situation?
Working with patients and caregivers on a daily basis you would think I would be fully prepared if a catastrophe hit my family...but I'm really not.
People don't like to talk about money, or their lack of it. They don't want to talk about how hard that reality is when they are dealing with the much more serious issue of fighting for their lives.
It wasn't until I learned about Jerry Barton and his family that these thoughts flooded my mind and spilled over onto this blog.
At this time of our lives R and I are doing fine. Both R and I have great careers. We aren't over-extended in anyway and we live a comfortable life. But like most of America today, we don't have a large retirement or savings plan and we spend money on the things we want more than we actually save.
When I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22, we lived in a tiny house and I didn't have any dependable income. Other than additional doctors appointments, my financial life didn't change.
That wouldn't be the case today.
If cancer struck my husband or me in our working years, everything would change for us.
Our income would plummet if one of us could no longer work. SSDI wouldn't even pay my mortgage... My electric bill for my 3800 square foot house is more than the average car payment or the mortgage on that tiny house I lived in when I was 22.
We would lose this home.
We would very likely have to downsize to one economy car.
We would have to stop piano lessons, golf lessons and horseback riding lessons for the kids.
We would no longer go out to eat without counting pennies.
We would have a cell phone, instead of 4 smart phones.
Instead of new shoes or make up or a new fishing pole, we would be holding our monies to cover co payments or insurance premiums.
Life would be drastically different for us if cancer struck us today.
This is what I'm thinking about as I'm reading about Jerry Barton and his family.
What would happen to your life if cancer struck you today?
I hope you'll read Jerry's page and help if you can. http://www.gofundme.com/2bbmro
What would happen to your financial situation?
Working with patients and caregivers on a daily basis you would think I would be fully prepared if a catastrophe hit my family...but I'm really not.
People don't like to talk about money, or their lack of it. They don't want to talk about how hard that reality is when they are dealing with the much more serious issue of fighting for their lives.
It wasn't until I learned about Jerry Barton and his family that these thoughts flooded my mind and spilled over onto this blog.
At this time of our lives R and I are doing fine. Both R and I have great careers. We aren't over-extended in anyway and we live a comfortable life. But like most of America today, we don't have a large retirement or savings plan and we spend money on the things we want more than we actually save.
When I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22, we lived in a tiny house and I didn't have any dependable income. Other than additional doctors appointments, my financial life didn't change.
That wouldn't be the case today.
If cancer struck my husband or me in our working years, everything would change for us.
Our income would plummet if one of us could no longer work. SSDI wouldn't even pay my mortgage... My electric bill for my 3800 square foot house is more than the average car payment or the mortgage on that tiny house I lived in when I was 22.
We would lose this home.
We would very likely have to downsize to one economy car.
We would have to stop piano lessons, golf lessons and horseback riding lessons for the kids.
We would no longer go out to eat without counting pennies.
We would have a cell phone, instead of 4 smart phones.
Instead of new shoes or make up or a new fishing pole, we would be holding our monies to cover co payments or insurance premiums.
Life would be drastically different for us if cancer struck us today.
This is what I'm thinking about as I'm reading about Jerry Barton and his family.
What would happen to your life if cancer struck you today?
I hope you'll read Jerry's page and help if you can. http://www.gofundme.com/2bbmro
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