THE NEW RULES OF RETIREMENT SAVING • 109
Why Might You Live to be 100? You’ve seen the headlines. The first person to live to 120 is likely alive today. Babies born today will be more likely than not to reach their ninetieth birthday. There’s a good chance you’ll live longer than you think, too. Here are five reasons why: No. 1 - You’re reading those life expectancy numbers wrong (part I) According to the Social Security Administration, life expec- tancy for men is seventy-four years and life expectancy for women is seventy-nine years. But that’s life expectancy from birth. This includes everyone who dies at birth, in childhood, or as a young adult. When you look at life expectancy from age fifty, for exam- ple, you’ll notice a bump. Life expectancy is now seventy-eight for men and eighty-two for women. Step it forward another fifteen years and consider life expectancy for someone who is sixty-five. A man is now expected to live to eighty-one, and a woman to eighty-four. What does all this mean? Every year longer you live, your life expectancy goes down by a factor much smaller than one year. So if you make it to your fifties or sixties, you need to adjust your life expectancy assumptions accordingly. No. 2 - You’re reading those life expectancy numbers wrong (part II) Let’s further consider those life expectancy numbers. Remem- ber, these are average numbers, and you’re not average. Don’t be- lieve me? Consider this. Average life expectancy numbers are based on America’s population as a whole. This includes people who smoke, people without access to adequate health care, people with cancer, people who don’t wear their seat belts, and people who work dangerous jobs for a living. Chances are, you don’t have most of those risk factors. Consider, too, that life expectancy and income correlate: higher income workers, on average, live longer than lower income workers.
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker