The majority of children born in rich countries today can expect to live to more than a 100. This increase in life expectancy has been happening for decades and yet we continue to structure our lives the way our parents or even grandparents did.
Source: Human Mortality Database, University of California, Berkeley (USA) and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Germany). Available at www.mortality.or
Unless deep seated social change occurs then a longer life is a gloomy prospect making longevity a curse and not a gift. Our current practices are ill equipped to cope with a 100-year life. We either can’t afford to retire at the age our parents did or will have to work for so long that our mental and physical fitness as well as our enthusiasm for life could suffer. Individuals, companies and governments all have a role to play in ensuring we structure our lives differently so we can make the most of a longer life.
Life Expectancy
Source: Calculated using data from Human Mortality Database, University of California, Berkeley (USA) and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Germany). Availability at www.mortality.org. For an explanation, see ‘Broken Limits to Life Expectancy’ by Jim Oeppen and James Vaupel, Science, May 2002, vol. 296.
A multi-stage life
The hundred-year life has happened because over the last two hundred years, across every decade, life expectancy has increased by two or three years. That’s like discovering at the end of every day you have been given another eight hours!
The current three stage life of education, career and retirement will be replaced by a multi-stage life with new stages, new ages and with the potential for much greater individualised sequencing.
How’s this for a new 100 year life timeline?
0-20 -Education20 -22 Work training/first degree
22-25 work
25-27 travel
28 marriage/partnership
28-40 work/continuous learning
35-40 children
40-41 career break
41-50 retraining and career change/ 2nd degree
50-60 start and manage own business
60-62 travel
62-70 work on own business
70 remarry/change life partner (?)
70-73 learn new skills/hobbies/ 3rd degree
73-75 travel
75-80 transfer business to next generation
80-100 stop working but don’t stop learning, keeping fit, travelling, investing in relationships and having a life purpose
Unfortunately, as this is new to all of us there are no role models so most of it will have to be invented as we go along. You may be interested in reading this very illuminating book – The 100-Year Life: Living and Work in an Age of Longevity which describes the choices that you need to make in the age of longevity.
What this means for us as individuals
We see this reshaping of life in response to longevity as similar to the deep-seated changes brought about by technology and globalisation.
The first responsibility is of course ours as individuals. We have to make choices about what we each do and how we structure our life. No matter how old you are you need to start doing things differently and adapting to a longer life. Ultimately it is your responsibility to plan your life and in order for this to be as fulfilling as possible, you need to have a vision and a purpose. What do you want to do with your life and what will get you happily out of bed in the morning?
One pressing challenge will be financing a longer life. If we live for longer, we need to invest more in our financial assets to support a longer life. No one wants to live for longer if it means misery and poverty! At Magenta, our financial forecasting and lifetime financial planning modelling, will ensure that you know exactly what financial resources you will need for a secure and happy future. We will help to get everything organised so you can pursue your passions without worrying about money.
However, a longer life is not just about getting the finances right, but also about making sure you invest in your health, your families and friends and your own productive abilities. A longer life will lead us to reassess how we balance these financial and non- financial forces during our lives.
It is clear that the career paths and life decisions that worked for our parents won’t work for us. We will need to make different choices than our parents and our children will make different decisions to us.
If you are interested in discussing this important issue further, do please call us for a friendly chat.