• Home
  • News
  • Personal Finance
    • Savings
    • Banking
    • Mortgage
    • Retirement
    • Taxes
    • Wealth
  • Make Money
  • Budgeting
  • Burrow
  • Investing
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest finance news and updates directly to your inbox.

Top News

How An Economist Thinks About “Trump Accounts”

July 15, 2025

5 of the Best Places to Retire in Alaska — and Why You Should Consider the State

July 15, 2025

Earn $25 an Hour and up With These 25 Remote Jobs

July 15, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • How An Economist Thinks About “Trump Accounts”
  • 5 of the Best Places to Retire in Alaska — and Why You Should Consider the State
  • Earn $25 an Hour and up With These 25 Remote Jobs
  • 10 Bills That Middle-Class Americans Can No Longer Afford
  • 13 Behaviors People Find Condescending
  • Nvidia CEO: AI Will Change Everyone’s Jobs, Including My Own
  • Charitable Planning After The Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) Is Different
  • Walmart’s Anti-Theft Crackdown: Honest Shoppers Lose Out
Tuesday, July 15
Facebook Twitter Instagram
FintechoPro
Subscribe For Alerts
  • Home
  • News
  • Personal Finance
    • Savings
    • Banking
    • Mortgage
    • Retirement
    • Taxes
    • Wealth
  • Make Money
  • Budgeting
  • Burrow
  • Investing
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans
FintechoPro
Home » You Should Plan For A Long Retirement
Retirement

You Should Plan For A Long Retirement

News RoomBy News RoomAugust 6, 20230 Views0
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email Tumblr Telegram

I recently spent an afternoon estimating how long I might live, using a few life expectancy calculators. It was this actuary’s idea of fun!

It was also very enlightening and sobering, even for someone who works researches and writes about longevity topics. It reinforced the conclusion that I should be planning for a long retirement, as should most people who are currently transitioning into retirement.

To help determine how long you might live, online calculators typically ask questions about your circumstances, health status, and family history. The more questions a calculator asks, the more personalized your life expectancy estimate will be.

The results you’ll get from the various online life expectancy calculators will likely be different, which illustrates that life expectancy calculations are an inexact science. There can be many influences on your lifespan, and there’s a great deal of uncertainty about exactly how long an individual might live, given their unique set of influences.

Despite this uncertainty, however, a life expectancy calculator is a good tool to help you get a ballpark idea of how long you might live, and that’s what I was hoping to find.

I started with a popular life expectancy calculator, Livingto100.com, which was developed by Dr. Thomas Perls, a respected physician who wrote the excellent book Living to 100. This calculator is highly personalized, asking dozens of questions about your health, nutrition, lifestyle, and family history. It took several minutes for me to answer all the questions—a bit of a tradeoff between personalization and ease of use. But that calculator estimated I might live to age 101!

Next, I tried an easy-to-use life expectancy calculator offered by Northwest Mutual. It asked me 13 questions about my lifestyle and family history, and it estimated that I might live to age 100.

Then I tried a life expectancy calculator that was developed by professors at the University of Pennsylvania. It asked 14 questions about my health and lifestyle, and estimated that I would live to age 98, with a three in four chance I would live to at least age 90.

So far, the results from these three calculators look encouraging. However, none of my male ancestors lived until age 90, which gave me pause.

To help temper my optimism, I used the Actuaries Longevity Illustrator, developed by the American Academy of Actuaries and Society of Actuaries. It’s the least personalized of the calculators I used, asking only questions about my overall health status and whether I smoke. It shows the odds of living to various ages, and if you’re married or have a life partner, it illustrates how long one of you might live. This is very helpful for retirees who want plan for the financial security of their spouse or partner after they’re gone.

This calculator showed that there’s less than a 50/50 chance I’ll make it until age 90, and only a 7 percent chance I’ll live to age 100.

It was enlightening to see all the questions that the calculators asked, which provided insight into the factors that influence my lifespan. The different results also illustrated that there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding how long I might live.

From the perspective of this 70-year-old, it seems that I could live another 20 to 30 years. The range of possible results demonstrates that I should plan to be financially secure no matter how long I live. It’s sobering to realize that a lot can happen in the world and in my community over such a long period. Think of all the changes that have happened in the past 20 to 30 years! So, I need to be flexible and be prepared to change my plans to keep up with the times.

On the positive side, I realized that most likely I have many years of life ahead of me! It inspired me to take care of myself and be conscious about the activities I participate in and the people I choose to be around.

I strongly encourage you to try a few life expectancy calculators, review whether your financial plans support your expected lifespan, and reflect on the best use of the remaining time you have on Earth.

Read the full article here

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Articles

How An Economist Thinks About “Trump Accounts”

Retirement July 15, 2025

Charitable Planning After The Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) Is Different

Retirement July 14, 2025

‘Do I Have Broccoli In My Teeth?’ How To Give—And Receive—Advice Better

Retirement July 13, 2025

Why You Need A Legacy Plan Before It’s Too Late

Retirement July 12, 2025

Using Legal Authority Over An Aging Parent

Retirement July 11, 2025

Social Security & The Big Beautiful Bill

Retirement July 10, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Demo
Top News

5 of the Best Places to Retire in Alaska — and Why You Should Consider the State

July 15, 20250 Views

Earn $25 an Hour and up With These 25 Remote Jobs

July 15, 20250 Views

10 Bills That Middle-Class Americans Can No Longer Afford

July 15, 20250 Views

13 Behaviors People Find Condescending

July 14, 20250 Views
Don't Miss

Nvidia CEO: AI Will Change Everyone’s Jobs, Including My Own

By News RoomJuly 14, 2025

In a new interview, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says AI is “the greatest technology equalizer”…

Charitable Planning After The Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) Is Different

July 14, 2025

Walmart’s Anti-Theft Crackdown: Honest Shoppers Lose Out

July 14, 2025

Is It Worth Your Time to Join a Class Action Lawsuit?

July 14, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Dribbble
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Press Release
  • Advertise
  • Contact
© 2025 FintechoPro. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.