. . . what will you do with your extra years?
The World Economic Forum recently did a talk on âThe Economy of a Super Aging Societyâ, which was really interesting and brought up some thought provoking ideas.
Did you know that:
- Global life expectancy was 34 years old in 1913 and it is now 72
- Between 2015 â 2050, the proportion of the worldâs population aged over 60 will nearly double from 12 to 22%
- By 2030, 25% of people living in Singapore will be over 65
- In Japan, over 28% of people are already over 65
What does this mean for us all?
It has been described as a âsilver tsunamiâ that will overwhelm public finances, burden the young and drag down the economy. Cheery!!
However, shouldnât we be celebrating that we are living longer? Isnât it a good thing that we are now a healthier world, not dying in childbirth, of dysentery or other horrible diseases?
In the past people thought of their lives in three stages: school, work, retirement. Things have to change. Retirement could last a very long time and if we are not careful we could run out of money and be left in a state run care home, miserable.
The talk discussed how we need to foster intergenerational equity and solidarity. The young should not be expected to be paying exclusively for the old, funding their healthcare and care homes as they are working, with no investment from their taxes for them, and the old should not be sitting at home waiting to be looked after by a more and more broken system that is falling into greater and greater debt.
Thinking of our futures is now coined as Longevity Literacy. Its 3 core principles are:
- Quality of life – what sort of life we are living. Do we enjoy it and are we healthy?
- Financial resilience – do we have enough money to enjoy our life and the ever evolving landscape in which we live?
- Purpose – why are we alive? Whatâs the point?
Many people retire early but then go back to work. Several of my clients have retired several times. Why? Because they lack a sense of purpose in their lives. They do not want to play golf all day; they want to continue being needed, utilising their brains and being around other people, not just their family.
So is the idea of retirement an old fashioned one that needs to be changed? Sitting in front of the TV all day is not going to cut it if you want to stay healthy. And golf is just a great walk spoiled đ± (hopefully my husband doesnât read this!).
Staying in work is not the only answer, I hear from many people that this is the time that they start or increase their volunteering, to help others. Maybe working in a food bank can add to your sense of purpose, helping those recently bereaved, or befriending an older person.
What can we learn from Japan where already over 28% of their population are over 65 and they are healthier than before?
It is not only diet that helps keeps Japanâs older people as some of the healthiest in the world. It is also their donât stop attitude.
Yuichiro Miura â at 70 years old became the oldest person to summit Everest, then he did it again at age 75 and again at 80.
Mieko Nagaoka started swimming in her 80s and at 105 was still entering swimming competitions and held 18 world titles.
Seichi Sano took up surfing at the age of 80.
Donât fancy sports, Kimiko Nishimoto is 95 years old and her Instagram account is full of her photography â her doing silly things, such as being run over, hung out to dry on a washing line and flying with birds using fairy wings. Do you like her above, stuck in a microwave?
All of this activity has been shown to help cognitive ability too.
So, what will you do with your extra years?
