It’s not gone to plan

So…
As some of you might be aware, I hung up the keys at an early (ish) age this time last year, I was diagnosed with cancer, testicular cancer, and have been treated for it since.
Sadly, my little biological house guest has decided to put down some routes and is refusing to leave, my recent tests have revealed a spread.
Whilst it’s not the worst case, it’s not great and will take some fighting.
My appearances on here might be a little sporadic ( yes, I can hear the cry’s of disappointment) whilst I get to work on evicting my foe, not because I will be fighting to the death, more because I don’t think posting after a heavy round of treatment will end well for me. The lack of patience and sympathy will be strong in me!
My main reason for posting this is to offer some advice…

I was lucky/boring/unlucky enough to plan for my health and future. I paid extra for cover with my various financial ties. I had cover via work too. Aside from my boring financial outlook, it’s fair to say that I have been helped by this planning when the ■■■■ has hit the fan, so all I wanted to say to all who are on here is… take a good luck at yourselves financially.
I know we all moan or boast about wages etc but what happens if it stops?
I’m guessing a fare few in here are the “breadwinners” in the household and yes, you might be ok for a few weeks off but I would ask you all to take a good look at things.
Don’t take things for granted, my cancer is just ■■■■, utter ■■■■, but the little bit of security that I have money wise has helped more than I can say. My family are able to be with me, and the stress is way less than it could be .
I’m not suggesting you should take millions in life cover, but maybe just double check where you stand with things like your mortgage, car payments and work should the worse happen.

Sorry to depress you all on a Sunday night but it’s taken a few days to mull things over.
I have enjoyed looking and posting on here, despite the obvious trolls I think it’s a good place to get an idea of the industry, both where it’s been and where it’s going.
I look forward to being around for a while longer, and I hope some of you might just take my advice as it’s meant.

All the best…

Sound advice coming from a man who is dealing with the harsh realities of this terrible disease. I have nothing to add on the financial side of things, but on a personal note I hope that you find the strength to fight and beat this. Good luck.

Sorry to hear about your health situation,my wife has been battling the same unwanted guest for almost 3 years now with a terminal diagnosis been given 18 months ago…they told us she had less than 12 months but she is still fighting strong and doing amazingly well,apart from the few off days.

100% agree with what you say on the financial aspect,my wife’s diagnosis came less than a year after we had moved into a new build property which meant we have a £500+pm mortgage payment to cover amongst all the other bills…which we managed fine with us both working full time as we envisaged would be the case for many years as you would under any “normal” circumstances.

Then all of a sudden my wife was unable to work and neither was I as I had to be around to look after her,fortunately with as in most cases my wife being the brains behind the operation in our marriage she had long ago set up life insurance policies which upon terminal diagnosis she was able to claim from,We were paying less than £20 a month for this policy but on claiming it allowed us to clear 90% of the mortgage ( we decided not to pay it all off because we’d rather have more accessible funds in the bank) plus all pay off the car we had on finance and allowed us to be financially secure for me to take 18 months off work 12 of which was unpaid by my employer to be around for her…if we hadn’t of had that £20 a month policy we’d of probably lost our home by now,trust me when I say you don’t get any leeway from the banks even if you ring them with your story and explain your situation the bills still need paying nothing ever changes that!

Some may say that you have to live within your means ect ect but we were very comfortably within our means when we were both in full time employment…until the bombshell was dropped on us.

As said above you’ll never realise the stress that is lifted that if god forbid you have to claim from such a policy and that takes care of any financial outgoings for the long term,our £20 policy paid out £245,000…I’m not normally one for talking figures but I’m just trying to show how a little monthly expense whilst you are fit and well may just keep a roof over your head and food in the cupboards should the worst happen to you health wise.

A family member when talking to them about everything said of what I told them about the life insurance policy “oh we’ve got nothing like that”…safe to say they have now after I gave them a lecture that they need to ensure given that they have 3 kids and a mortgage that if anything happens to either of them that they are covered financially!,Sure they had a life policy that covered the mortgage as most do because you won’t get a mortgage without such cover but even then you’re still incredibly exposed financially if you have zero in wages coming in from one or both wage earners as a % your mortgage is only half if not less of the total amount in bills you pay every month in most cases.

I’d recommend Royal London if anyone was looking into purchasing a policy,they were absolutely brilliant with us very professional and demanded very little from us upon claiming apart from permission to speak to my wife consultant so they could obtain the required paperwork from him to enable them to pay out the claim,saving my wife the added work of gathering the required information for them.

If anyone reading this can’t say if they found themselves in this situation and they would be covered financially then have a good hard look at whether that needs addressing,plenty of people have the attitude of that it won’t happen to them believe me we never thought it would happen to us,my wife was fit and well aged just 37 when diagnosed and we have a now,11 year old son…a terminal cancer diagnosis was not something we ever expected to have to deal with!!!

Plan for the unexpected,because if you don’t and it happens before you do you’ve left it too late!

Well said norfolk. It can be a disease or an injury and all of a sudden you are left up a creek with no way to afford a paddle. I have three sets of in case insurance and I started them all when I was earning less than my drivers. Does make me sound boring.

I’m lucky that I have had (so far) no cause to call on them. Hopefully it will stay that way and I will count myself a winner despite paying in for around 30 years now.

I hope you recover well Norfolk and best wishes to Lady xichrisxi

I wish you well .

Reading this thread, and I did read it all, I have decided to get some cover. I’m not getting any younger. Advice from people who have been there should not be dismissed out of hand.
Royal London, you say?

Thanks Norfolk, and Chris.

The above posts certainly put life into perspective. My best wishes to you I admire your bravery and frankness in posting. Younger men get yourselves checked out ,it could be you.

I sympathise with those above who are struggling with ill health.My wife and i have both been lucky enough to survive cancer after surgery.Prostate for me and breast for her.Neither of us had either pain or any symptoms but were saved by pure chance.
When you look for insurance policies be careful,particularly as you get older.You could pay premiums for 15 years or more up to a specific end date;if you survive beyond this date you may end up with nothing because the policy only pays out on death.Also make sure that the sum insured does not reduce with the passing years or the premiums increase.
As an alternative you may want to consider a funeral plan.

Hope all goes well for you Norfolk,always enjoy your acerbic and intelligent posts on this forum.