Plans should include setting an aggressive retirement age. You don’t want your parents’ final years to become your last, too.” I often hear this sentiment expressed by family and friends of people whose parents struggled with health and financial matters in their final years; similarly it may apply to widowed spouses living alone with frail bodies who find themselves alone and vulnerable after losing both partners at once.
As someone without direct experience of how older adults struggle to live long lives, it may seem normal for you to aim at living for as long as possible. Once you become acquainted with some of the challenges imposed upon older individuals such as frailty, dementia, lack of funds and loneliness that come with ageing it’s only natural that your goals shift accordingly.
Let’s see how we can reconcile these differing ideas and incorporate them into your retirement planning strategy.
How Long Will You Live in Retirement?
An online life expectancy calculator could show that your life may extend into its late 80s or 90s based on answers provided to questions regarding health status, family history and lifestyle choices. These tools offer estimates based on answers given about personal history as well as your overall lifestyle choices and answers provided about potential longevity risks.
Forbes You Should Plan For A Long Retirement By Steve Vernon
But these calculators usually don’t give an estimate for how long we might remain frail at the end of life, something previous generations of elders might not have been able to experience due to medical advances; nowadays though we live longer thanks to medical technology; thus extending how many years might pass when frailty sets in at our end of lives.
As part of your retirement planning strategy, estimating how long your funds need to last and planning ahead for an eventual period of frailty at the end of life should be top of mind. Consider This Comprehensive Lifespan Goal
Wishes and plans differ: Saying you do not wish to live long is only wishful thinking–what happens if, in spite of it all, you find yourself alive but frail at an older age? Here is an alternative goal which enables a more comprehensive life plan:
“My goal is to live as long and well as possible, while planning for possible frailty towards the end of life.” What defines living well depends entirely upon you – for me personally it means:
Financially secure and healthy as possible for my age; I pursue interests which allow for optimal health; am involved socially with family and friends; I’d also like to stay financially independent for life’s unexpected surprises!
As I age, my health may decline and I won’t be as active in comparison with when I was young; but if I plan for these “slow-go years”, then it will still count towards living well.” ForbesPlan for Retirement Beyond Your Go-Go YearsBy Steve Vernon
Plan ahead for frail, no-go years so I won’t become an undue burden for family and friends, by outlining exactly what my goal of “living well” means so it can easily translate to concrete steps to reach my goal (e.g. Forbes4 Steps Retirees Can Take Now To Protect Their Children From Burdensome Parents By Steve Vernon).
At witnessing our parents’ struggles during their final years, my wife and I became inspired to plan ahead for ourselves in our later years. These ideas allow us to enjoy life now without becoming overly worried about when or if our time may come.
