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I have been a long time reader of this website and have listened to every one of the podcasts. I have posted a time or two on the forum and value the opinions of those here. I am a 43 year-old married father of two kids aged 12 and 9. I am a surgical subspecialist in the Midwest.
I started my financial journey when I was a junior in college in 2000 starting my Roth IRA. I was bitten by the stock investing bug in the mania of 1998-1999. My second parent died later in 2000, giving me a life insurance check that I excitedly invested in tech names like Broadcom, JDS Uniphase, and Cisco. You know how that story ends--over the next couple years I lost >80% of that money. I chalk this up to a learning experience that has shaped how I've invested going forward (don't invest in individual stocks) and consider it lucky that I only lost as much as I did, when I did, and have avoided repeating that mistake. I was able to invest consistently in a 403b throughout residency and fellowship and max out my Roth IRA until I was unable to do so and then have utilized the back-door Roth IRA strategy. My wife also works at an affluent school district and has been able to max out her 403b contribution and will stand to get a 6 figure pension when she retires.
While my career path isn't the one I planned on, (I am still an employee 11 years after starting with the practice), I have for the most part enjoyed my job, felt like I have been fairly compensated, and most importantly, had a good work-life balance. I have posted on the forum about some of my difficulties and have appreciated the feedback from the community. I started what I consider to be a side gig in 2016 of reading images remotely and that has expanded into a 6 figure income. I was excited to start a solo401k and have increased that contribution every year as my 1099 income has risen.
I have recently made an investment into a private real estate fund and consider personal finance a hobby. For the past 22 years I have tried to put away as much money as possible and have been excited about my growing net worth.
June 22 I was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. I had surgery July 8th and they were able to do a "total" resection. However, with these tumors it's not really "total". I will start radiation soon. It was histologically grade 3 astrocytoma but the tumor markers make the neuro-oncologist feel optimistic that it may behave more like a grade 2. Nonetheless, it sounds like it is going to get me at some point, whether it be 2 years or 20 years.
My question is this. I have spent the last 22 years of my life figuring out ways to save and put away as much money as I can tax advantaged. Now this. It will be 16 1/2 years before I reach 59 1/2 and can access my IRA funds without penalty. I have read the description of the SEPP rule. My question to the forum is this: should I continue to max out my IRA, 401k, solo401k, 529 plans to pay less tax now in my "peak earnings years" or now that I won't have retirement at a traditional age, should I switch my mindset and stop putting so much money away that I can't access without penalty? I have $3million in term life insurance and our remaining mortgage is ~$250k, so I know my wife and kids will be taken care of. We have estate plan documents already in place. I also have disability insurance but as of now I don't need it.
There have been articles on the blog about how people draw down their investments in retirement and have gone through the 4% rule, etc. However, my situation is somewhat different from that. I'd like to get the opinion of all of you on how I should approach saving going forward. (Don't say, "what does your written investment plan say?" LOL).
Thank you
I started my financial journey when I was a junior in college in 2000 starting my Roth IRA. I was bitten by the stock investing bug in the mania of 1998-1999. My second parent died later in 2000, giving me a life insurance check that I excitedly invested in tech names like Broadcom, JDS Uniphase, and Cisco. You know how that story ends--over the next couple years I lost >80% of that money. I chalk this up to a learning experience that has shaped how I've invested going forward (don't invest in individual stocks) and consider it lucky that I only lost as much as I did, when I did, and have avoided repeating that mistake. I was able to invest consistently in a 403b throughout residency and fellowship and max out my Roth IRA until I was unable to do so and then have utilized the back-door Roth IRA strategy. My wife also works at an affluent school district and has been able to max out her 403b contribution and will stand to get a 6 figure pension when she retires.
While my career path isn't the one I planned on, (I am still an employee 11 years after starting with the practice), I have for the most part enjoyed my job, felt like I have been fairly compensated, and most importantly, had a good work-life balance. I have posted on the forum about some of my difficulties and have appreciated the feedback from the community. I started what I consider to be a side gig in 2016 of reading images remotely and that has expanded into a 6 figure income. I was excited to start a solo401k and have increased that contribution every year as my 1099 income has risen.
I have recently made an investment into a private real estate fund and consider personal finance a hobby. For the past 22 years I have tried to put away as much money as possible and have been excited about my growing net worth.
June 22 I was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. I had surgery July 8th and they were able to do a "total" resection. However, with these tumors it's not really "total". I will start radiation soon. It was histologically grade 3 astrocytoma but the tumor markers make the neuro-oncologist feel optimistic that it may behave more like a grade 2. Nonetheless, it sounds like it is going to get me at some point, whether it be 2 years or 20 years.
My question is this. I have spent the last 22 years of my life figuring out ways to save and put away as much money as I can tax advantaged. Now this. It will be 16 1/2 years before I reach 59 1/2 and can access my IRA funds without penalty. I have read the description of the SEPP rule. My question to the forum is this: should I continue to max out my IRA, 401k, solo401k, 529 plans to pay less tax now in my "peak earnings years" or now that I won't have retirement at a traditional age, should I switch my mindset and stop putting so much money away that I can't access without penalty? I have $3million in term life insurance and our remaining mortgage is ~$250k, so I know my wife and kids will be taken care of. We have estate plan documents already in place. I also have disability insurance but as of now I don't need it.
There have been articles on the blog about how people draw down their investments in retirement and have gone through the 4% rule, etc. However, my situation is somewhat different from that. I'd like to get the opinion of all of you on how I should approach saving going forward. (Don't say, "what does your written investment plan say?" LOL).
Thank you
). Same again for the second tranche. I would be operating under the assumption that this will not be the case. 
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