October 2024
22Oct

Life expectancy may be reaching upper limits—for now

By William Mair     A paper published in Nature Aging earlier this month concluded that it’s unlikely that we will see significant leaps in human life expectancy this century. William Mair, professor of molecular metabolism at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shares what researchers know about the biology of aging, the importance of improving health span, and the need to take moonshots. Q: What did the study find and what conclusions can we draw from it? A: The study looks back at advances in...

October 22, 2024
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08Oct

Despite medical advances, life expectancy gains are slowing

We’ve seen dramatic increases in life expectancy over the 19th and 20th centuries, thanks to healthier diets, medical advances and many other quality-of-life improvements. But after nearly doubling over the course of the 20th century, the rate of increase has slowed considerably in the last three decades, according to a new study led by the University of Illinois Chicago. Despite frequent breakthroughs in medicine and public health, life expectancy at birth in the world’s longest-living populations has increased only an average...

October 8, 2024
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September 2024
13Sep

Beyond the Status Quo: A Critical Assessment of Lifecycle Investment Advice

By Aizhan Anarkulova, Scott Cederburg & Michael S. O'Doherty We challenge two central tenets of lifecycle investing: (i) investors should diversify across stocks and bonds and (ii) the young should hold more stocks than the old. An even mix of 50% domestic stocks and 50% international stocks held throughout one’s lifetime vastly outperforms age-based, stock-bond strategies in building wealth, supporting retirement consumption, preserving capital, and generating bequests. These findings are based on a lifecycle model that features dynamic processes for...

September 13, 2024
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July 2024
01Jul

How long you may live is one of retirement planning’s biggest unknowns. How experts say to get the best estimate

Effective retirement planning largely depends on the answer to one question: How long will I live? Yet no one truly knows the answer to that question. Here's what experts say you should consider to best gauge your plans. To effectively plan for your retirement, experts say, you need to watch your savings rate and total nest egg. But how much you really need to have set aside depends on another number — your life expectancy. Yet that figure is also the most elusive — no one knows how...

July 1, 2024
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June 2024
10Jun

6 Longevity Economy Principles – The World Economic Forum Weighs In

In an era where global life expectancy continues to rise, fertility falls and countries are shrinking demographically, the World Economic Forum’s new Longevity Economy Principles are not just timely—they're essential. These principles are designed not just to navigate the challenges ahead, but also to get prepared to seize the opportunities presented by a new era of longevity and generational rebalancing. In the next society, both countries and companies will want to ensure three inter-related foundational skills for their populations and workforces:...

June 10, 2024
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May 2024
31May

Live Longer and Healthier: Impact of Pension Income for Low-Income Retirees

By Chiara Malavasi & Han Ye We estimate the effect of additional pension income on mortality outcomes by exploring the eli- gibility criteria of a German program subsidizing the pensions of low-wage workers. Using novel administrative data, we find that eligibility leads to a 2-month delay in age at death (censored at 75). Survey evidence suggests that additional pension income improves both mental and physical health. In addition, individuals feel less financially constrained and are more optimistic about their future....

May 31, 2024
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17May

UK. Shifting longevity one of biggest risks to pension schemes

In England, 544,054 deaths were registered in 2023, which was 3,721 (0.7%) more deaths than 2022 and 25,895 (4.8%) above the five-year average; in Wales, 36,054 deaths were registered, which was 360 (1.0%) more deaths than 2022 and 1,521 (4.2%) above the five-year average. There were more male deaths registered (295,416 deaths) than female (285,947 deaths) in 2023, continuing the trend seen in 2021 and 2022. Deaths were above the five-year average in every English region in 2023; the region with...

May 17, 2024
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16May

Centenarians Are on the Rise: How Living Longer Will Affect Society’s Economics

By JayDee Vykoukal   According to a Pew Research Center analysis of United States Census Bureau data, the number of Americans aged 100 and older is expected to more than quadruple over the next three decades. The population is projected to reach 422,000 in 2054, up from an estimated 101,000 in 2024. These centenarians aren’t the only aging demographic on the rise. The 2020 U.S. Census count found one in six Americans is over 65, compared to less than 1 in 20 in 1920. Older...

May 16, 2024
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15May

Retirement Planning: Does It Make Sense to Plan to Age 95?

BY  TED GODBOUT   A new report out this week provides an interesting take on whether it makes sense for retirees and near-retirees to base their retirement planning under the industry-wide assumption that they will live to age 95. Instead of simply using age as a factor in determining how much to save and spend for purposes of retirement planning, the report by HealthView Services examines the financial impact for clients of planning to age 95 versus beginning the discussion using actuarial...

May 15, 2024
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02May

US. The Longevity Question

In his annual letter, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stressed the need to find solutions to the concerns Americans face when they plan for retirement. “We focus a tremendous amount of energy on helping people live longer lives. But not even a fraction of that effort is spent helping people afford those extra years,” Fink wrote. Most public pension funds in the U.S. are underfunded, according to research from the Equable Institute, which released a  State of Pensions 2023 report that...

May 2, 2024
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