A new report from the National Academy of Sciences documents the not all that surprising finding that high earners live longer than low earners.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 091715.php
"Men born in 1930 in the highest of five earnings levels who survived to age 50 could expect to live to be about 82 years old, on average, while men born in 1960 in the same earnings bracket are projected to live an average of 89 years - a substantial gain. In contrast, life expectancy for men with the lowest earnings was found to decline slightly, from 77 years old on average for men born in 1930 to 76 years old on average for men born in 1960. The projections for women show a similar pattern, in that life expectancy gains have been larger for higher earners than lower earners."
This is an important consideration for those on this board who are planning their retirement, particularly those trying to maximize their income from Social Security
plannerman
Growing gap in life span by income
- plannerman
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Re: Growing gap in life span by income
Here are the policy change scenarios that they analyze in the report:
While discussing the merits of these changes veers dangerously toward the shoals of a prohibited topic, I think it's still within bounds to state that financial plans should be resilient to changes like those described in the report.The Social Security simulations include raising the early eligibility age (EEA) by 2 years (to age 64); raising the Social Security normal retirement age (NRA) by 3 years (to age 70): raising both the EEA and NRA; reducing the cost-of-living adjustment applied to benefits by 0.2 percent per year (starting at age 62); reducing the top primary insurance amount (PIA) factor by one-third; and reducing the top PIA factor to zero. We also simulate raising the Medicare eligibility age by 2 years (to age 67).
Re: Growing gap in life span by income
[OT comments removed by admin LadyGeek]
Re: Growing gap in life span by income
Wealthier people may be more educated. More well educated people may realize the benefits of healthy diet, exercise, and screening exams. This may icrease their lifespan.
Re: Growing gap in life span by income
In before the inevitable Lock.
Re: Growing gap in life span by income
You can use a longevity calculator which takes into account specific facets of your life. Link is just one example. It asks directly about income and education as well as separately about a host of other lifestyle choices which might also be correlated with income and education (eating and exercise habits, smoking, wearing seat belts, etc). You can tinker with it to see the sensitivities to changing the answers.
'A growing gap' does have a public policy/politics feel to it intended or not, and 'I bet it's all caused by...' more so, but the basic issue of the SSA table not being very applicable to one's own situation is a quite serious 'personally actionable financial' issue, and also isn't well dealt with IMO by just assuming one's lifespan will be that of older generation relatives. This particular calculator doesn't even ask about relatives' lifespans (maybe some others do ask that).
http://gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/mortali ... cForm.html
'A growing gap' does have a public policy/politics feel to it intended or not, and 'I bet it's all caused by...' more so, but the basic issue of the SSA table not being very applicable to one's own situation is a quite serious 'personally actionable financial' issue, and also isn't well dealt with IMO by just assuming one's lifespan will be that of older generation relatives. This particular calculator doesn't even ask about relatives' lifespans (maybe some others do ask that).
http://gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/mortali ... cForm.html
Re: Growing gap in life span by income
This thread has run its course and is locked (not personal nor actionable). General comment threads are off topic in the forums with "Personal" in the title. See: A reminder that non-investing general comment threads are OT
If you have a specific question, please ask directly and provide sufficient information for members to supply appropriate advice.- It must be personal. In other words, you must be asking about your own situation. You can also ask on behalf of someone specific, such as a family member.
- It must be actionable. You must be able to do something specific with the replies that will make a difference in your situation.