As the author point out…”There’s a growing fascination with longevity and with good reason. Most of us are going to be “old”, whatever that means, for a lot longer than our ancestors. Modern man has been on the planet for around 300,000 years and for 99% of that time the average life expectancy at birth was 19. In 1900 the life expectancy in the U.S. was just 49.
Today, the fastest-growing age group in the country is over 85. The number of nonagenarians, those in their 90s, will quadruple in the next 30 years and the number of centenarians will grow eightfold. A woman who is 65 today has a 1-in-4 chance of reaching 100 and a baby born today has a 50% chance of reaching 100. Welcome to the beginning of the longevity revolution.”
This longevity revolution will require us to evolve our thinking about careers and life phases-with retirement for many being at a higher age, and for some, a longer time spent in retirement. Being active and continuing to do the activities we enjoy is important. This may simply mean someone wants to continue to live independently far as long as they can. Making the needed changes to better match our healthspan to our lifespan and wealthspan is critical to making this happen-and it can. Plan accordingly!
