I'm Going to Live How Long?

[Chase]

Whenever I (or anyone, for that matter) estimate how much money will be needed in retirement, the bigger question is "How many years will I need the money" or, put more succinctly, "How long am I going to live?"

Good question, but a vexing one as well, given the rapid advances being made in medicine. My mother died at age 78 during a heart by-pass operation. I had a by-pass at age 60 and came through it with flying colors. My father died at age 68, seven months after a stroke. I've been treated for high blood pressure since I was in my 40's. With medication, my blood pressure has been stable and normal for years.

I don't smoke and I drink only occasionally. That's good. I don't really exercise much, so that's bad. My parental history is against me, but I have grandparents that lived into their 90's.

What does any of this mean for my retirement?

Or for my life?

These questions explain why, on this lovely late-summer Sunday afternoon, I was busy running life expectancy calculations.

I started with the Social Security Calculator which simply compares me with the general American population. According to the Social Security Administration, on average, I should make it to 85.7 years of age.

Naturally, I don't think of myself as 'average' so I looked around for a calculator that would get more specific.

That may have been a mistake.

This Calculator asked a lot of lifestyle questions and promptly reduced the estimate to 84 years.

The Wharton School has even worse news. Their calculator thinks I'll be lucky to make it to 82 years, seven months.

Fortunately, there is another calculator that bounces me back up to age 85.

Still, I'm hanging onto the memory of my maternal grandparents who were in their 90's when they died.

I wanna be like them!

Financially, I'd better assume that I will. I don't want to be 90 and broke.

 

[iovudima]

I lost my father to pancreatic cancer and, ever since then, I have spent time volunteering to help raise awareness and funds for cancer research. I volunteer for PanCan, an advocacy group, and I'm part of their volunteer network. One of the things I'm passionate about is helping to find a cure, in whatever way I can. I also love getting to know patients and survivors on a personal level.

 

[Nova]

Our lifestyle choices decide how long we are going to live. And we don't know what could future bring us. You could be living healthy and then suddenly the corona came out. And it could take you. As that is something most unpredictable thing that is going on out there. So one has ton be pretty strong about what could be done about the health. As that should be the priority and one should focus on living among those parts for easier life in general. That is what I have learned so far when it comes to the healthy lifestyle.

My another concern is that we have to also think of medicine and the movement of our body as a means to say how long we are going to stay alive. If we are dependent on the medicine then we are going to have more health issues and we don't know where our body stays healthy for how long.

 

[Alexandoy]

I plan to live up to 100 years. My father died at age 87 and my mother at age 82 so I have a fighting chance that I could reach a century. However, I do not want to be cared for by other people and if I am not physically independent anymore then it is better to just leave forever instead of living forever. To be 90 is a safe number that I hope my resources would suffice.