Older Than Ever

Pg 24 “Who’s Sitting on Your Nest Egg?”

Not so long ago, attaining the age of one hundred was a rare occurrence. Today, centenarians in the United States number close to 80,000, a figure that’s expected to reach 130,000 by 2010, and, according to the U.S Census Bureau’s “middle” projections, will soar well past the 800,000 mark by mid-century. Others predict a figure of four million or more centenarians by 2050. About 85 percent of them today are women, and for them, today’s survival rate to age one hundred is projected at an astonishing one in twenty-nine!

In his typical wise-cracking fashion, the late, great comic George Burns once offered this word of encouragement to those nearing the century mark: “If you live to the age of a hundred you have made it, because very few people die past the age of a hundred.” Ironically, Burns himself lived to become a centenarian, but died a few weeks after his one hundredth birthday.

Obviously, the concern about outliving one’s resources is much more realistic for those who live longer than expected. For many who’ve reached traditional retirement age, that’s meant having to stay on the job, or going back to work after retiring from their career positions. On the brighter side, federal statistics show that the spending habits of seniors tend to decline as they grow older, allowing the resources they’ve accumulated to last longer than they had anticipated.

Approaching retirement, you may have dreamed of the life of luxury awaiting you in your leisure years, or around- the- world cruises, everyday golf or tennis, and being pampered as five-star resorts. While those dreams may well come true, you could find yourself beginning to slow down a bit.

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