It’s a bit off topic, and too late now, regardless, John, but did you shop around, or assume you had to take the annuities from your original providers?
You could almost certainly have got an impaired life annuity (more money for being ill) by going elsewhere, even if you have not been severely affected by MS.
Many people miss out by assuming they have to take the deal that’s offered. Not saying that’s what’s happened to you, but worth a mention here, in case anyone else facing this decision doesn’t realise you don’t have to buy your annuity from the same people who have always held your pension. You can buy it from a competitor instead, and almost always get a better deal - even if you don’t have health issues. It’s a bit like sticking with the same home or car insurance every year, versus doing the annual shop-around. Admittedly, the latter’s irritating, but you can usually get a much better deal by moving than by staying put.
Life style has a lot to do with it I am sure of that.
Mind you the cemetary is full of people who had healthy lifestyles but no luck when disasters strike. I just thank god for everyday i am given on this earth.
My sisters mother in law was 86 when she died with her MS. She was hugely overweight though and in wheelchair. She died of heart attack.
One thing a friend of mine told me with her MS never put yourself in a wheelchair. Keep walking even if its just around the house. So i do. I have kept my weight down by doing so.
I never eat rubbish/treats or fried food bleurgh lol.
I keep my little bantam chickens which keep me active and i am never bored lol.
See that young lad from the apprentice at 27 died from Asthma, loads of people of short life spans living with other diseases especially the ones which affect the lungs.
I was also advised, when newly diagnosed, to resist a wheelchair for as long as possible (though not everyone with MS ever needs one anyway).
At that time, I knew a lady who was very severely affected by MS (had lost all autonomy), and the person who advised me was her PA. She’d obviously seen a lot of cases in her career, and her advice was: “Keep out of a wheelchair - once you go in it, you’ll never get back out.”
I know this runs contrary to the opinions of many here, who regard their wheelchairs as liberating, rather than a step (sorry, no pun intended) on the path to decline. But I was advised NEVER to do it from choice - only if I absolutely had to, because once you stop trying to walk, you lose the option.
I’m thankfully nowhere near that stage yet, but I notice, even as mildly affected as I am (to all appearances), the less I do, the less I CAN do. If I don’t persevere with everyday things, I get a shock when I find I can’t do them any more - or not without great difficulty, anyway.
And the deterioration happens quite quickly, too. If I’ve given something a miss for as little as a few weeks, I suddenly find it’s extremely hard to do it again - and I don’t mean just psychologically. I just find the strength and stamina that used to do it OK are gone!