Last week, I wrote about my physical and how the doctor was worried about a lump on one of my boy-bits (the right ball). I went in for an ultrasound and it turns out that everything is fine. This is good, but from a financial standpoint, the ultrasound wasn’t cheap. I may as well reuse some of the pictures, so for your viewing displeasure, here are some of them.
I’m not sure what’s going on in this picture. Those pretty colors look like UFOs or Christmas lights. Maybe I’ll make Christmas cards out of the picture? That or call the History Channel.
Not much to see in this one:
Hold up a second. Did you see what I saw in that last picture? Let’s have another look:
I knew it! Well played Waldo.
Worst Case Scenarios
I like to consider worst-case scenarios when pondering important decisions in life. The worst-case scenario is a productive thought exercise for two reasons:
- You realize how unlikely the scenario is to come true.
- You figure out that even if it does happen, it’s not that bad.
Example: Trailer Park Investment
Worst case scenario: The trailer park we invested in severely underperforms and we make no money from it.
Outcome: We have only 10% of our investment portfolio invested in it. While a 0% return would be painful, I wouldn’t have to go back to work.
But with medical issues, worst case scenarios can take dark turns. When a doctor mentions the word “cancer,” your mind immediately goes to bad places:
And this is where financial independence really comes in handy…
Suit Of Armor
Not having a job is pretty fun. I get to exercise for hours every day. I also read books, work on personal projects and wander around town photographing random stuff like this:
The 19 months since I quit my job have been pretty great. However, there’s more to FIRE than unicorns, chocolate, and beer.
Part of Kristy’s talk at Chautauqua was about the suit of armor that FIRE gives you. A lot of money means nothing less than massive protection against the shitballs that life may throw your way. All of these events could mean disaster to the bank account of someone with no savings:
You get fired from a job.
The car engine seizes up.
A family crisis materializes.
A big net worth makes all of these events easier to absorb. And it made a potential health issue for me easier to deal with. If I would have had cancer, we’re able to afford the insurance to deal with it. I don’t have a normal job, so I wouldn’t have had to worry about work. And if the worst case scenario had come true, I would have left behind a nest egg capable of supporting my family. I’d die knowing that my early exit wouldn’t have caused financial distress.
And The Not So Lucky
Sadly, an acquaintance of ours was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In case you’re not familiar, this is a death sentence. The median survival rate is less than 1 year. And this person has young children. As if all of that isn’t bad enough, he struggles financially. Tragic on many levels.
FIRE has a lot of upsides that make life better, but the downside protection is what makes you able to sleep at night.
Fitness Update
My shoulder and elbow still hurt. I still stretch but have taken a break from strength training until the end of the month (today). The way my body is feeling now though (little to no improvement), I’ll probably take December off too.
While I dread my workouts, I dread not working out more. It hurts to not be able to do push-ups and pull-ups. However, this is just an opportunity to do something else. Along with squats and deadlifts, I’ve upped my running and walking game. I hit my 2018 goal of 6,000,000 steps earlier this week. I don’t think that 7,000,000 is in the cards, but I’ll get close.
Health Is Everything, But Money Helps
So, my balls are fine and I live to write another day. Life is pretty good right now. Shitty shoulder/elbow aside, I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been. Probably the happiest too.
While I don’t think much about money anymore, it’s my base. The best part of having money is that it frees you from having to earn or even think about money. I’m healthier because I don’t have to work a job and can spend time on my body. I’m happier because I can spend time on my mind.
Life is good.
I love your attitude with this whole thing, and maintaining your sense of humor is awesome as well. One of the principles of stoicism as you know is to think about death. It sounds like a big downer, but I find it helps to cultivate gratitude.
Yes… this. I have a book to give you next time I see you or you can simply get it your self.
The guide to the good life – the ancient art of stoic joy.
Read it… we’ll discuss. Maybe start a book club.
i have that book and it’s free to a good home. i’ll mail it to anyone who wants it.
freddy smidlap recently posted…Get Your Money Straight and Say NO to Crappy Offers
I’ll snag it from the library. Thanks for mentioning it!
Death. I’ve been thinking about it lately. (Hello 45!) I don’t think it has to be super sad. If you’ve lived life well, why can’t it be a celebration (-1).? In the meantime, it’s a reminder to get your ass in gear!!
Hi
I think that it will be good to include death as part of the factor in FIRE, This will make the preciousness of knowing the prevailing circumstance. One will cherish the present moment.
WTK
Underneath all of the fun parts of this post, it really is an important reminder that there are no guarantees of a tomorrow, and that we should to do all we can with today. Glad that you were given a clean bill of health and wishing all the best for your acquaintance friend and their family.
On a silly side note, I’m having a hard time getting that Waldo photo out of my head haha! If they were ever to make an Uncensored version of the book, I think this would make the cut.
Waldo photo! What’s your address again? I’ve got something to drop in the mail after I visit Walgreens photo printing…
🙂
Hooray! Glad the boy bit lumps are nothing to worry about. Best of luck with your other lingering injures. I landed funny on my hip nearly three weeks ago playing volleyball and am still having pain but have finally regained full mobility. I think lingering injuries are part of being old. This little fall would have been fully healed in a day or less 15 years ago.
Bah! Aging sucks. Why cant’s we just stay 28 for like 50 years and then croak!
Ahh the FIREy nuts! 🙂
Being healthy and happy is good. It’s certainly one less thing to worry about when you have financial security. It was great meeting up and chatting with you the other day.
A scare like that must have shaken you, yet left you thankful and happy to be alive now that Waldo is happily waving and smiling.
I attended week 2 of Chautauqua and Kristy’s talk was one of my favorite takeaways. Having FI Armor is fantastic because it allows you to be able to pursue your passion without worrying about whether your dream will make money, whether you’ll be good enough, or whether people will laugh at you. But it doesn’t do squat if you have a terminal illness. There’s no armor for that.
I love your perspective that no matter what really does occur, having reached FI gives you the most options.
Susan @ FI Ideas recently posted…To RE or not to RE, That is the Question
Mmm.. schweaty balls. In all seriousness glad it worked out.
Any radiologists out there care to explain the rainbow nut effect? With is that?
And yes… we all face death, it’s just more comforting knowing that those you care about will be taken care of.
i gotta agree with you that the dough in the bank/investments is just a piece of the puzzle but a great piece to have. it’s like the fire department: you hope you don’t need them but are glad they’re around if your house if on FIRE.
this whole health thing can really get a person’s attention. i just started back running again last month and suddenly have been dealing with this vertigo/dizziness issue the past week or so. it’s pretty unnerving to think you could just fall down walking down the hall to the bathroom. makes you realize how great you have it when all is well and not to take it for granted.
freddy smidlap recently posted…Get Your Money Straight and Say NO to Crappy Offers
This is excellent news! I know how you feel. I had my own health scare earlier this year that surfaced during my routine annual physical. I had dangerously low platelets (like, seriously, how aren’t you bleeding out of every orifice right now, spontaneous-hemorrhage-potential low platelets). Google search results for low platelets scream LEUKEMIA over and over again. Luckily, after lots of testing, the source of my low platelets was not life threatening (although still a bit of a mystery).
I’m still working full time while on my path to FIRE, but living comfortably and with excellent health insurance, but it really did take the edge off knowing that if I had to take off a considerable amount of time to work for treatment, I’d be just fine. It did make me question though whether I should get short term disability insurance, which is not offered by my employer.
I like the suit of armor analogy. The number one thing that couples fight about is money issues and this goes away with financial independence. What doesn’t go away is our human tendency toward routine and comfort only to be shaken awake when ourselves or others get a health scare or some other eye opening event. Then we come back to an acute awareness of our mortality and frailty and get a period of inspiration and urgency. I am still working toward sustaining that level of mindfulness. Maybe I always will keep striving? Glad to hear things are ok Mr 1500.
Testes, testes, 1… 2… 3?!?
Glad to hear the good news about your right ball, and I’m sorry to hear about your friend with pancreatic cancer. Cancer sucks.
Best,
-PoF
Let me join in with the general congratulations, that’s awesome news! Slightly disappointed that you didn’t go with the headline “Great balls of FIRE” but not everyone can be as HILARIOUS as I am…
I think that the wider point is even more important. Money can’t stop the stuff that life throws at you but it can makes it easier to handle.
It also makes it easier to make sure that you live in the moment. I’m increasingly seeing people emphasising the importance of enjoying the FIRE journey not just shooting for the end goal (although that could be confirmation bias of where I have go to). If you are choosing to live intentionally every day then when the worst happen you will be less likely to feel as if you’ve been cheated.
Caveman recently posted…I just want some more sleep! Why getting a proper night’s rest will speed you to Financial Independence, and make you happier and healthier
Wonderful news. And thank you for sharing the ultrasound pics of your….boys. My in-laws retired with over $1million in the bank, but FIL diagnosed with prostate cancer, and VA didn’t have a nearby cancer ward to treat it (he likely got it while serving as a submariner). So they paid out of pocket (didn’t have insurance to cover it), and ran through all that money pretty damn quickly. I definitely tell this story to scare the shit out of people. Insurance is super important for catastrophic things like that. My husband was sending part of his paycheck back home when he was deployed overseas to help his mom pay for treatment for his dad. His dad didn’t know that’s what was happening.
But essentially: health insurance is very important to have before you get diagnosed with something- and as you say, it’s important to keep up your health with exercise.
Ummm… silver lining? Now that you’ve used the pictures maybe you can mark the ultrasound as a business expense and write it off.
In all seriousness, I’m super glad you’re fine. I got other news that a colleague who I thought was the picture of health just found out about having lymphoma and don’t want any more cancer sadness!
Congrats on your balls being ok… but what the heck was Waldo doing in there?
Having good health is really one of the most important things in life, but here’s the thing — Eventually everyone’s health will fail sooner or later. No matter how much kale eaten or steps taken, eventually we’re all going to kick the bucket.
The biggest advantage of FI is that you at least get a chance to live a little before you number is up.
Mr. Tako recently posted…Wealth Building Is Mostly Invisible
Glad to hear it wasn’t cancer. But what was your doctor so concerned about? Did they diagnose the condition as something benign, like a epididymal cyst or something? Just feel like the story ending is missing, lol…
If it was just a cyst, maybe you should switch doctors. As far as I know, it’s pretty easy to tell the difference?
So glad to hear that your boy bits aren’t falling to bits or exploding…just a sad case of Waldoitis…
You bring up a lot of good points about FIRE giving you the bandwidth to practice both preventative care (if you choose) and also to hopefully better deal with any nasty stuff that does happen…
I think one of the things some of the ‘doom & gloom I-need-10 million-to-retire’ folks are missing is that the big nasty could happen TODAY… you need to balance the annoyance you deal with today with the future…because sometimes the future doesn’t happen.
Can’t remember if we’ve talked about this before, but whilst the shoulder/arm are healing, try some hatha yoga… it will help with flexibility and is a practice that functions a moving meditation for a lot of folks, just like walking does…
Dude. You *almost* sent us all dick pics. Are you transitioning 1500days into a porn site to better monetize your traffic?!?
Financial Velociraptor recently posted…Financial Transparency as of 30NOV2018
Almost! But yeah, never will I go in that direction! I’d have to blow the image up 1000% for anyone to see anything…
*sigh*
#TMI
Wow, you are such an amazing and inspiring person! You got this, just don’t give up! Xoxo
Dammit! I keep forgetting to order a fitbit/Garmin.
You’ve reminded me with your talk of health and fitness.
Off to browse pedometers to get my fat ar$e into shape.
Whew!
I haven’t had any scares but I have some pesky physical issues. Being retired means I have too much time to focus on them. I’ve had to shift my mindset so I don’t stew on them too much. Have you struggled with this?
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“Being retired means I have too much time to focus on them. … Have you struggled with this?”
I have, but it’s a good thing. I was overweight and having time has allowed me to get work on fitness. I’m down 25 pounds!
Where’s Balldo?
I’ve become the family joykill when, sitting around the dinner table, I wryly observe to my wife that at 45 I statistically have more time left behind me than ahead of me.
Glad to know there’s a crew of similar souls spouting “memento mori” to anyone in earshot.
Fondly,
CD
P.S. Mrs. WoW: While not a radiologist, I believe the rainbow represents doppler flow, a way of measuring bloodflow to the tissues.
Balldo! Nice one.
“I wryly observe to my wife that at 45 I statistically have more time left behind me than ahead of me.”
Bah, I’ve had the same thought. And to make it worse, assuming I live to be 90, I’ll bet 5 is a lot more fun than 85.
Super late to the party here, but I know what all those crazy colors are. They show where blood volume is moving significantly. Basically where are major blood vessels and how much blood flow there is to an area. This is important to know because one of the hallmarks of cancer is angiogenesis, which is fancy medical talk for new blood vessels being formed where they shouldn’t be. The ultrasound shows your blood flow is pretty average (maybe even a bit below average 😆) which means that you are healthy where the sun don’t shine.