Mea Culpa
A generally unimportant thread, only because I came across statistics that indicate jeanie and I have both exceeded the life expectancy of a person born today. 79 years, and we're 82.
This led to some more digging, to find out how long we were expected to live when we were born in 1936. That was age 62 (average-both sexes). Note that women were expected to live about 4 years older than men then, and now, about 5 year older.
https://www.infoplease.com/life-expectancy-birth-race-and-sex-1930-2010
Things are changing... life expectancy is beginning to drop.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/16/health/life-expectancy-uk-us-drop-study-intl/index.html
Nothing to draw from numbers but overall a picture of life... and what can/could happen. Understanding "regression to the mean" ... an interesting concept that might be considered when projecting retirement years and needs.
We all look for happiness and safety in retirement, and attainment of the goal is what drives us. To go on and keep going to develop a safety cushion? To balance risk against the reward of extra time in the life we dream of.
In another thread I mentioned a friend who retired about the same time as we did, (he was 56)... and who died of a heart attack... back in 1993.
I think about this now and then, and look back to 1989, when a financial advisor suggested that I should continue working for five more years, to be "safe" in retirement.
Here's my own takeaway:
We don't know... we can't know.... and the decision to retire is personal. For us, the deciding factor was age... we were 53, when I had colon cancer. A long recovery, and the decision. Go back to work to insure a safe retirement? Take a chance... retire on a new, less than optimum budget and hope for the best, with the fallback idea that we Could go back to work. Yeah... that was the choice.
No regrets... and now 30 years of a happy retired life already behind us...with a theoretical, statistical life expectancy of another 7+years, to age 89. As mentioned in another thread, two of my best friends are 98 and 99,and smarter than me.
No matter... a flight of fancy and nothing new.. except... a thought for those who may not be happy in their working life today... Especially if you have that age fallback option, maybe to take the chance.
Like the tatooed guy with life philosophy on his muscled arm....
"No Regerts"
A generally unimportant thread, only because I came across statistics that indicate jeanie and I have both exceeded the life expectancy of a person born today. 79 years, and we're 82.
This led to some more digging, to find out how long we were expected to live when we were born in 1936. That was age 62 (average-both sexes). Note that women were expected to live about 4 years older than men then, and now, about 5 year older.
https://www.infoplease.com/life-expectancy-birth-race-and-sex-1930-2010
Things are changing... life expectancy is beginning to drop.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/16/health/life-expectancy-uk-us-drop-study-intl/index.html
Nothing to draw from numbers but overall a picture of life... and what can/could happen. Understanding "regression to the mean" ... an interesting concept that might be considered when projecting retirement years and needs.
We all look for happiness and safety in retirement, and attainment of the goal is what drives us. To go on and keep going to develop a safety cushion? To balance risk against the reward of extra time in the life we dream of.
In another thread I mentioned a friend who retired about the same time as we did, (he was 56)... and who died of a heart attack... back in 1993.
I think about this now and then, and look back to 1989, when a financial advisor suggested that I should continue working for five more years, to be "safe" in retirement.
Here's my own takeaway:
We don't know... we can't know.... and the decision to retire is personal. For us, the deciding factor was age... we were 53, when I had colon cancer. A long recovery, and the decision. Go back to work to insure a safe retirement? Take a chance... retire on a new, less than optimum budget and hope for the best, with the fallback idea that we Could go back to work. Yeah... that was the choice.
No regrets... and now 30 years of a happy retired life already behind us...with a theoretical, statistical life expectancy of another 7+years, to age 89. As mentioned in another thread, two of my best friends are 98 and 99,and smarter than me.
No matter... a flight of fancy and nothing new.. except... a thought for those who may not be happy in their working life today... Especially if you have that age fallback option, maybe to take the chance.
Like the tatooed guy with life philosophy on his muscled arm....
"No Regerts"