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THREE YEARS AGO, I wrote an article suggesting I had 7,000 days to go, at least according to the Social Security Administration’s life expectancy calculator. The 1,000 days since then represented a significant 14% share of my remaining actuarial life.
The good news is, the Social Security calculator now estimates that my life expectancy is about 6,400 days. I’ve enjoyed 1,000 days of life but only used up 600 days of life expectancy. That’s like a 40% return on life over the past three years. Unfortunately, this math is doomed to the law of diminishing returns. Like fellow HumbleDollar scribe Dick Quinn, I’m counting down the days.
So, what happened over those last 1,000 days? Lots.
Our daughter got married, our son graduated from college and bought his first home, and we moved to be nearer to both children. We lost several close family members and the best hiking dog ever. I added a few creaks to my aging body and soul. Retired life is mostly good, and going as anticipated.
We purposefully sampled several new-to-us life experiences, many of them pandemic-era additions to our bucket list. We went deep-sea fishing twice, tried fly fishing once, and took up wake-boarding and wake-foiling with varying success. We rented five different mountain cabins for a total of seven weeks, chartered a catamaran in remote islands, rented a lake camp for two weeks, and hiked in 10 more national parks. Per the modern senior mandate, we also sampled pickleball.
These fresh adventures were all outdoors, often in isolation, usually inexpensive and always undertaken with family or close friends. All were enjoyable, though I learned that fly fishing is not my gig.
The outside world has seemed stressful, what with COVID-19, the Ukraine war and far too much polarization. But except for COVID, such issues didn’t directly affect my daily life. Still, today’s constant and unhealthy barrage of negative news is tough to ignore, no matter what the media source. Avoidance is the only remedy.
Financially, it’s been a rollercoaster ride. Our wealth is still modestly ahead of where it stood 1,000 days ago, even after accounting for COVID, a major house purchase, three years’ expenses and the recent stock market decline. After the raging bull market—followed by the current bear market—stock values have mean-reverted until they aren’t far off their historical averages.
My takeaways from the last 1,000 days suggest that I focus on five objectives over the next 1,000 days:
Interesting article, counting the days and all. Just not something I do. About to turn 69, and thank G-d every day for the chance to get up & make it fun. Having lost two siblings by their 58th birthdays and a twin at 66, I no longer take life for granted, thus the thanking G-d every morning for another day. Finally empty nesters & all the kids seem to be doing great financially. We’ve always lived under our means which helped us to pay off our mortgage almost 30 years ago.
We’re both still working, me part time, and only because I want to. Between my pension, s s & investments, we’re living a good life. Found that moderation is the key in every aspect of life. Had the “when do we retire” talk a few days ago, and have decided to stay the course & re-visit the topic next year as we both like our current life style & jobs.
We are truly blessed but am cognizant that it could all be taken away at any time, so try to live each day to the fullest. Our glasses are truly half full and we have the man above to thank for that!
I somewhat enjoyed the article, only because I’m trying not to think about the countdown. Agree that staying healthy is what makes everything else possible.
Sonja,
Being cognizant of the countown helps me to focus more to “just do it” and less to that which I cannot control.
I understand life expectancy is the springboard to the choices you’re making and not the main point of the post, but still it’s worth pointing out that there’s a chance (a 50% chance in fact) that the number you use is low since it is the average (half live less, half live more).
There is a calculator at https://www.aacalc.com/calculators/le that shows the tails on the longer side. I’m guessing you are born around 1956 so it shows that 20% of those born in 1956 will live an additional 26 years instead of the 18 year average.
Mark – Indeed you are correct, although my family has poor longevity, so I may be challenged to exceed the average. As I see it, the bigger issue is whether we are physically capable to still be active into the mid 80’s rather than how long life span might stretch beyond the mid 80’s.
John, thanks for a terrific article. I resonate with everything in this article, but the “obsessive engineer” point truly hits home.
Putting your life expectancy into days is a real eye-opener. Being the obsessive engineer I immediately hit the link to the SS life expectancy calculator. It says I have 6,935 days left. Better get moving.
Rick,
Tick-tock, retiree time moves along fast, but staying healthy is the first key to everything else. As this obsessive engineer ponders everything, I’ve come to realize, I waste too much time pondering and likewise, just need to get moving
Should be enough time to write at least another 1,000 HumbleDollar articles….
🙂
Sounds like fun time. Careful of that pickle ball. It’s a sure-fire way for a senior to earn a trip to the PT clinic.
Edmund,
Pickle ball is a fun, social and moderately active sport that we’ve played six times – we like it, but are not passionate. I certainly hope pickle ball is not a path toward injury and rehab, because we do some other activities that are much more physically challenging.
John, I sincerely hope you can maintain a healthy, active lifestyle for many more years.
As a PT, I should mention that the rate of injury in racket sports is really low compared to most other sports, especially running. That said, seniors often have bad posture and/or rotator cuff injuries, so I’d definitely recommend some thoracic extension exercise and strength training for the back and rotator cuff as preventive measures.