Reflections Toward End of Life

 

Reflections Toward End of Life

 When I was younger, about 80, or so, I targeted for my life to reach the year 2020.  It was a nice round number, and implied perfect vision, among other things.

 When 2020 arrived, instead of an idyllic, perfect, year, it came with the Chinese Communists’ originated Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed 5 million people world-wide as of this writing, and is still killing people at the end of 2021. 

 The origin of this pandemic has become so politicized and obfuscated, that we will never know the true story of what happened at that Wuhan, China virus lab. Suffice it to say, that only one country, China, gained world-wide advantage from the pandemic. (Check the GDP’s to confirm.)

  Several friends have died from Covi-19.  Thankfully, no extended family members have died from it, but several have had relatively mild cases of Covif-19 over the last two years.

 I got vaccinated in early 2021, and got the booster as soon as I could, not because it was “mandated” by Biden, but because of my age and the obvious scientific and medical considerations.  Hopefully, I will have escaped contracting Covid-19 and dying from it.

 So, my next goal, after 2020-21, and Covid-19, is to live to 90 years of age. I feel that my chances are pretty good.  I’m reasonably healthy, with few, if any, of the afflictions of advanced age.  My heart and lungs and other vital organs seem to be working well.  I do not have diabetes. My mind does not seem to have been touched by dementia and its subsets like Alzheimer’s.  I see doctors and specialists regularly and take both prescribed medications and vitamins and supplements,

 I have physical balance issues, and need to be careful not to fall.  So, if I don’t fall and break my neck, I should make 90 years of age, or more.

 I have a stent in my heart that was inserted in 2013, but no heart disease of which I’m aware.  Of course, the heart is an amazing muscle.  It started working months before my birth, and hopefully, will continue working into my nineties. I am fully aware that it could stop at any time in advanced age, and I try to mitigate this by diet and exercise.

 Reflecting on advancing age and end of life considerations is not the most pleasant of exercises.  What helps is a relatively lucid and logical mind that still works pretty well.

 I completed downsizing from the house that I lived in for nearly 40 years, to an active senior community in 2019, and sold the house before Covid-19 hit.  I can think logically, without the prodding of loved ones, about whether to maintain a relatively expensive car that I am using less and less. Similar with other life and independence choices, like travel and such, at this stage of my life.

 One major consideration toward the end of life are finances.  Many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, and never save adequately for retirement.  The social security that FDR instituted in the 1930’s has yielded about a 2-3% return for most people’s working years, and the overall average social security check is about $1.400 per month. For most people, social security covers about 30-40% of retirement living expenses.  Medicare covers 80% of major medical issues, leaving 20% to the individual, sometimes defrayed by Medicare supplements.

 Working into my seventies, regular savings, sale of my house and some possessions, and a friendly (so far) investment market, have left me reasonably comfortable financially.  My spreadsheets show me with enough money to stay financially viable into my nineties, barring any major financial/medical/long term care disruptions.  I’m hoping that I’ll live to about my mid-nineties, and then die quietly in my sleep.

 This is all hopeful and optimistic, I know.  As the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us, “the best laid plans…”  But, God willing, I should make ninety plus with a still functioning mind, and not too severe a physical balance issue, and continuing to enjoy many things in life.

 Ray Gruszecki

October 29, 2021