What if your retirement lasts much longer than you anticipated? Increasing life expectancies have reshaped our understanding of retirement and financial planning in recent years, and we’ll likely become more concerned about effectively managing financial resources throughout a potentially very long life in the future.
In this episode, we’re sharing some insights gleaned from a recent industry conference focused on the impacts of longevity on retirement planning. There’s a growing need to rethink how long you’ll need your savings to last and how you approach your investment strategies to accommodate potentially decades more of life.
We’re discussing the intriguing idea of a 150-year lifespan and the emergence of cutting-edge longevity research and how this thought-provoking information challenges our traditional views on aging and needs us to rethink traditional financial planning strategies.
Whether it’s reimagining retirement careers or evaluating the future of medical advancements, we have to align our wealth span with a potentially extended health span. Join us as we unravel the financial implications of living longer and healthier lives.
Lifestyle Choices and Their Financial Footprints
Current U.S. statistics reveal that 65-year-old men and women can expect to live into their mid-80s. If the prediction that the first person to live to 150 is already born, then financial planning will undoubtedly have to evolve. Longer life spans necessitate a reevaluation of savings, investments, and how wealth is distributed across an extended lifetime.
One critical challenge of living longer is maintaining financial health. Longevity means we need to think differently about financial planning and consider more nuanced asset allocation strategies to withstand market volatility over extended periods of time. Rethinking how long retirement lasts and what it entails will be imperative if we want to live well as older adults.
The New Age of Retirement and Career Flexibility
Longer life spans offer the opportunity to explore multiple careers and transformations. Today’s retirees may need to reconsider the traditional retirement model for one that accommodates continuous learning and adaptability. The potential for a “second act” in careers, transforming midlife roles, or even revisiting parenthood later in life underscores this shift. The dual retirement scenario presents an interesting financial planning dilemma, with increased lifespans potentially allowing us to potentially enjoy multiple careers throughout our lives.
Looking forward, advancements in science and technology also promise further insights into longevity and health span. Ongoing research into gene therapies and longevity drugs is paving the way for potential aging vaccines or wearable technologies that might one day monitor biological age in real-time. Financial planning will also need to evolve to support these advancements.
Embracing investment philosophies tailored for longevity may well have to be the mindset when considering financial futures over extreme time horizons. Financial planners currently find that clients are worried about running out of time when they look at how the markets are performing, whereas in the future the concern may well be how to stretch their resources to ensure a great quality of life their whole life.
The likelihood of increased life spans should inspire us to adapt and plan accordingly, ensuring that health and wealth sustain us throughout our lives.
Outline of This Episode
- (00:00) The impact of increased life expectancy on retirement planning and investment strategies
- (04:28) The seven characteristics of Superagers
- (13:12) Longevity research highlights the economic value of extending life and the financial implications for both health and wealth spans.
- (14:17) Considerations for a financial plan include longevity, health, family history, multiple careers, and evolving work-life dynamics.
- (19:37) Flexibility and proper asset allocation are crucial for ensuring financial stability over a longer lifespan.
- (21:38) Overcoming fear of decline requires a shift in mindset and planning.
Resources & People Mentioned
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- Joel Rothman – UC Santa Barbara
- JP Morgan – The Investing Impact of 10 More Years
- 7 Super Secrets of Super Agers
- Blue Zones Netflix Documentary
- WSJ – The Longevity Business is Booming
- BBC – 70 Year Old Gives Birth to Twins
- Journal of Gerontology – The Real Facts Supporting Jeanne Calment as the Oldest Ever Human
- CNN – Would You Want To Live to 150?
- BBC – 400-year-old Greenland shark ‘longest-living vertebrate’
