Life expectancy

[willsie01]

I retired at the end of April and now I know I have degeneration of my coronary arteries can I establish how this affects my life expectancy? I’m thinking I should consider this in to my retirement planning.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

How long is a piece of string? A friend's father had a bypass forty years ago and is still fairly fit for his age - he is in his early nineties!

[willsie01 in reply to MichaelJH]

Oh dear! That’s the same answer that FA’s give! Thanks anyway. I did come across a website that factored in medical history, along with other things, and gave life expectancies based on that. Can’t remember where I saw it. I know there are always exceptions, like the uncle who smoked 40 fags a day and lived to be a hundred.

[Chappychap]

One of the key points that most people on this forum should be considering is that "life expectancy" and "healthy life expectancy" aren't the same thing. Both measures have been growing, but the sad fact is that healthy life expectancy hasn't been growing nearly as fast as life expectancy. So in retirement it's worth thinking about the financial and domestic arrangements that might be necessary for a longer period of being alive but in poor health.

The other related issue in today's era of "life style diseases" is the increased importance on our own choices in staying fitter for longer. No nicotine (not just quitting smoking), moderate drinking, 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week, healthy eating, keeping your waist measurement below half your height measurement. All of these (and more) are critical in determining if we'll enjoy to the full a longer life expectancy, or if we'll be one of the growing group who struggles through our final years in increasingly poor health.

I appreciate this makes glum reading, but the silver lining is that a better future is entirely possible, but only if we're prepared to work at it.

[willsie01 in reply to Chappychap]

Yes, important stuff.

I tend to take all this as a given.