Can Longevity Truly be Predicted
Every morning, Emma Morano ate a raw egg and biscuits. When she died at age 117 in April of this year, she was the oldest person in the world. She lived in Verbania, a picturesque town situated on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy.1
Violet Brown, who was born in 1900 and lives in Jamaica, now holds the mantle as the world’s most senior senior.2 Like Morano, she resides in one of those beautiful locales that most of us only dream about. Could picturesque surroundings be a factor in longevity?
Surely happiness, time spent with good friends and family and a high quality of life can be factors. But no one really knows how long they’re going to live, which makes it particularly difficult to plan accurately for retirement income.
According to the Society of Actuaries, men who reach age 65 can expect to live to an average age of 86 and women to 88 — but those are just averages.2 In reality, some won’t make it to their predictive age and others will live longer. Which will you be?
As financial advisors, we understand the dilemma of planning for the unknown because it’s what we do every day. If we can help you develop a retirement plan, please contact us for a financial review. We can help you stay focused on your long-term goals and work with you to design a specific plan using a variety of insurance and investment products that help you work toward your desired financial future.
One tool to estimate your lifespan is the Actuaries Longevity Illustrator. Based on a few simple questions regarding health and demographic characteristics, it offers a series of percentages predicting your chances of living to various ages.3
If that’s too broad in nature, you might enjoy completing a more detailed questionnaire at the Biological-Age calculator. Based on how healthy a lifestyle you lead, this calculator knocks years off your current age for an estimate of how well your body is holding up.4
The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator (livingto100.com), which was developed by Dr. Thomas Perls, of the New England Centenarian Study, asks 40 questions about health and family history to help estimate how long you may live based on researched medical and scientific data.5
If you’re concerned about getting older, here’s a bit of good news: People tend to get happier as they age. In a poll earlier this year, people age 70 and older said their quality of life has improved as they’ve aged.6 This could reflect the sentiment many people feel who either never enjoyed working or are simply happy to stop.
Either way, it’s probably more uplifting to stop thinking about the limitations of getting older, and reflect more on the advantages we can enjoy that were denied us at younger ages.
Content prepared by Kara Stefan Communications
1 Sean Rossman. USA Today. April 15, 2017. “World’s oldest person, last known to be born in 1800s dies.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/04/15/worlds-oldest-person-last-known-born-1800s-dies/100501238/. Accessed April 18, 2017.
2 Mark Miller. The New York Times. Feb. 18, 2017. “How to Make Your Money Last as Long as You Do.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/18/your-money/retiring-longevity-planning-social-security.html?_r=0. Accessed April 18, 2017.
3 Society of Actuaries. 2017. “Actuaries Longevity Illustrator.” http://www.longevityillustrator.org/. Accessed April 18, 2017.
4 Biological Age. 2017. “Find Your Biological Age.” http://www.biological-age.com/#. Accessed April 18, 2017.
5 Dr. Thomas Perls. 2017. “Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator.” . Accessed April 18, 2017.
6 Matt Sedensky. The Detroit News. March 22, 2017. “Poll: As people move toward old age, optimism sets in.” http://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/wellness/2017/03/22/poll-old-age-optimism/99485000/. Accessed April 18, 2017.
This material is intended to provide general information to help you understand basic financial planning strategies and should not be construed as financial advice. All investments are subject to risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining values.
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