About 10 years ago, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. We got her on all the right medicines, but she got worse. Eventually, she needed round-the-clock care. It was very expensive, and we ended up having to sell our house in order to pay for her treatment. In the end, the cancer got her. We threw everything we had at that damn disease, and I don’t regret a penny we spent trying to fight it–she was the love of my life. But, in hindsight, I wish we’d bought a long-term care policy. At least we would have been able to keep the house.
-Gary, 68, Everett, Wash.
The same as most of the country: That I didn’t bail out of the stock market at the first sign of trouble. If I had a time machine, I would go back to the summer of ’07 and sell everything and put it all in bonds. Instead, I listened to my broker and held tight. “Don’t panic. If you panic, you’ll end up making a bad situation worse,” he said. I wish I’d listened to my gut, but I figured he’s the one with all the degrees. Well, needless to say, I’m not a client of his anymore.
-Paul, 58, Shrewsbury, Mass.