Strange how Spring is traditionally the time of new life and renewal, but more than the average number of people seem to have passed on recently. “Gathering Time” as a lodge friend’s relative used to call it. But this out of sync blog is about Cancer, as there have again been more than the average number of enquiries about it and my handle of CancerIFA is getting better known.
Starting with the most recent, a 42 year old man with no pension, no life insurance, a mortgage, very worried wife and 2 children under 10, has 18 months to live. Nothing in the way of financial advice that the IFA who contacted me or yours truly can do, but some of the non-financial or health-related ones might help.
Original query was “Can this guy get life insurance?” Answer, YES but look at the conditions http://www.sunlifedirect.co.uk/life-cover/guaranteed-over-50-plan?gclid=CKLHwLyHk6ACFRk_lAodGRSVdA as death within two years will result in a payout of the premiums + 50% – not the sum-assured. Please note this is a direct sale. No one is giving any advice.
If you have any pension and have less than 2 years to live, the pension can be paid out in cash as per my blog http://www.georgeemsden.co.uk/2009/05/financial-planning-for-people-with-cancer/ which is also available as a podcast.
Think you might have a pension but can’t remember where it is? then there is the Pension Tracing Service run by TPAS http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/helpful-organisations/pension-tracing-service
That’s more or less it as far as financial stuff is concerned, but there are some health avenues to explore.
http://community.macmillan.org.uk/home.aspx which has a section dealing with practical issues and a huge discussion forum.
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org has a huge database about different types of cancer.
If conventional medicine can’t help (you can always ask for a second opinion though) then it is time to look at the complementary side of medicine. One of the best known is http://www.pennybrohncancercare.org/ formerly known as the Bristol Cancer Help Centre. They helped my father have an extra 16 years of rewarding life plus I can recommend their book Loving Medicine http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/bookl/158081.shtml where his experiences with alternative medicine helped him – his is one of 5 cases listed in the book.
There are my own experiences http://www.georgeemsden.co.uk/category/cancer/ on my blog site (there are a lot of articles here)
Lastly, I could not finish without mentioning my friend Dilys who was diagnosed with cancer and given 4 months to live – over 10 years ago. Her story is really inspiring She now practises the treament which saved her.
The above are all anyone can do, as the main thing is to look for help. If you don’t, it will not find you and you will be surprised how many people are in the same boat. On Twitter for example, there are loads of groups with cancer in the name.
As far as trying the above remedies is concerned, many of the referrals I get seem to be from people with little or nothing to lose. And it would be great to hear from people where any of the above remedies help.
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