reviewing my insurance policies

i had some time to think through things given recent developments and decided to call my insurance agent to review some of my policies. i think it is high time to reprioritise some things. 

for a start, i want to reduce all the death-related benefits. previously, i had kept these as i wanted to make sure that if i should die before my parents, they would be taken care of. but now, given their demise, i would be able to rebalance my priorities to keep my quality of life when i am alive instead. put simply, my insurance policies should focus on allowing me to take care of myself and ensure i have a reasonable quality of life as i age. i don't have any children so i do not need to focus on death benefits to ensure the livelihood of people surviving me. there are none.

with this clarity of thought, my conversation with my agent became rather interesting. for the first time, i was able to quite objectively share the very foreseeable number of years that i think i still have and chart out some possible financial planning thoughts with her. i will likely die at 72 or latest by 75 years old, i said. i was almost too confident about it. and with me being 50 years old this year, planning for 20-25 years ahead seemed pretty easy.... by 55, no more liabilities, technically can retire (by which i mean, work for the joy of it and not for my financial liabilities), by 60, withdraw my pensioners'  benefits, by 65, downgrade to smaller house...  etc etc etc... and when i can divide my life into 5-year blocks, things became pretty straightforward. 

it seemed quite clear to me at this stage of my life, in a very positive way. of cos, the last thing i need to do is to draw up a will to state who/ which charity should benefit should i eventually pass on. i will do that another time. one step at a time.