Do you want to live until 100?

With our life expectancy at birth rising steadily over the last fifty years,  we may see ourselves living pass 90 or even 100.  This means that we may have to reassess our ability to live long and well as part of our retirement planning.

I participated in “Ready for 100” survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit recently – http://readyfor100.economist.com/survey/.  I scored 7.61, which is slightly above Singapore’s average of 7.30.  Nothing to shout about, as bench-marking is only an estimate. For all you know, I may be having delusion over the reality of my life.

Besides having the financial and good health to live longer, there are also other factors that will affect my ability to live well at that age, such as –

• Are my love ones (eg, partner, children) close to me?
• Can I still move around?
• Do I still know what’s going around me?

It’s ideal to be worry free from financial and health issues and it’s probably the best outcome that most would hope for. But the state of mind is equally important.  I always hold on to the fact that it’s the state of mind that keeps us going, example, one can be penniless but if the state of mind is positive, one will find a solution to the penniless issue. And the opposite is true.

I will be devastated if my partner passes on before me and most likely my state of mind and quality of life will drop after that.  While I may have children to fall back on, they will have their own family and lives instead of looking after an old lady every day.  The question will then be – how do I keep my state of mind good to continue living? No answers at this point of time.

I don’t know about you, but I love to live and I am fearful of dying.  The unknown of the world after the heart stopped creates disturbing thoughts. However, if I am no longer healthy enough to live or left in this world alone, it may be better to move to the next world, hopefully in a graceful manner.

Life is ironic – We may be ready for 100, but we may not want to live till 100.  Or, we are living till 100, but we are not prepared to do so.

To answer my own question – Yes, I will want to live until 100 if I am healthy, has mobility and with my love ones close beside. And No to the opposite is the obvious.

What about you?