We All Want a Long Life
What we should want — and work for — is to be healthy as we age
Japan is modeling the future for other developed nations with falling birth rates. As the world’s oldest country (26 percent of the population is over 65), and average lifespans into the 80s, Japan is exploring how not to just live longer, but live a healthy life for longer.
Healthy life expectancy (HLE) is lower than total lifespan. If you live to be 85, chances are you will be spending some portion of that time past 65 with some type of illness. In Japan, HLE is nine years less than total lifespan for me, and 12 years less for women.
No one wants to spend their last years bed-ridden and sickly. But how do we reduce that decade or longer?
One of the best ways is for older people to work longer. Working longer keeps people mentally active and engaged, not to mention providing a sense of contribution. It also adds physical activity, and perhaps most important, social connections.
No one wants to spend their last years bed-ridden and sickly. But how do we reduce that decade or longer?
There’s a problem here, of course. Actually, there are a couple of problems.
First, at least in the US, getting a job once you’ve hit 60 is all but impossible for most people. Recruiters tell applicants to list only the last 20 years on their resumés, as if that makes a difference.
Doing so not only attempts to bury years of valuable experience, and hiring manager worthy of the title can find out an applicants age in a couple of minutes on Google. Over 50? Round file.
The other problem is possibly the bigger one and harder to solve: workers themselves have a vision of retirement that includes golf, gardening, and globetrotting. But less than five percent of those 60 and older have the financial wherewithal to live that lifestyle.
Workers have a vision of retirement that includes golf, gardening, and globetrotting.
Even those who can afford it often grow tired of an endless vacation. Do we really need unlimited free time for 20 years or longer?
I will be unpacking more about these concerns and some related issues in future columns. Stay tuned.
