Following the post-COVID stimulus hangover in 2022, the bull market has continued to run. One of the key factors was the Federal Reserve’s decision to
Will ‘100’ Become The New ‘80’?
Imagine for a moment adding 20 healthy years to your lifespan. How might you live your life differently? At what age would you consider retirement? Or perhaps, would you consider starting a second or even third career? How would you positively impact the lives of your family or the broader world at large? As the opportunity to improve our life and health spans becomes a reality, an increasing number of scientists and investors in Silicon Valley are starting to view age as “just a number”, a problem with a discoverable solution.
Life expectancy has risen by almost 20 years since the Social Security Act of 1935 formalized age 65 as the standard retirement age. Today, thanks to ongoing improvements in nutrition and medicine, median life expectancy in the United States is now about 80 years. While predicting lifespan based on improving historical trends is encouraging in its own right, the coming technology revolution in healthcare means that many of us may fail to appreciate just how much the actuaries could be underestimating both our life and importantly, health spans.
The rise of personalized medicine (using a patient’s genetic data, lifestyle, and environmental surroundings to inform treatment) over the next decade will ultimately allow doctors to customize treatments and optimize your outcomes. Reading your genetic information and tailoring a unique medical response is an important milestone in pursuit of extended longevity, but the developing “holy grail” of personalized medicine is the ability to actually rewrite your genetic code. Budding technologies, like CRISPR, can now snip out and replace faulty parts of one’s DNA. While in its infancy, this technology may ultimately be able to successfully treat many hereditary diseases, reboot failing tissues and turn your doctor into a ‘biohacker’, enabling adjustments to your internal biology that materially extend your life and overall health.
Meanwhile, significant medical breakthroughs are being made outside the field of genomics. Cord and placental blood transplantation are now accepted as standard therapies for more than 80 diseases. Regenerative capabilities are being explored using stem cell therapy. And our understanding of the bacterial colonies that make up around half the cells in your body, known as your microbiome, is helping many optimize their health outcomes. Even robotic-powered “super suits” that boost strength and mobility for the elderly and disabled are being brought to market.
All of which means that unlike prior generations, Gen-Xers and Millennials are likely to be given the gift of an additional generation of memories and experiences. As a result, planning for a comfortable retirement that could last decades will be important. Many Baby Boomers are already working longer as life expectancies grow, education levels rise and work becomes less physically demanding. In the future, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s (85) and Warren Buffett’s (87) of the world are unlikely to be the anomalies; they’ll be the norm. Equally important will be the quality of that extended productivity and the necessity to build strong social and familial networks along the way.
Age is currently the leading risk factor for virtually every cancer, cardiovascular, neurological and degenerative disease in existence. Of course, it is still debatable whether healthy, triple-digit birthdays will become less rare and the promise of extended, highly productive lives, a reality. But based on the ever-changing and evolving technological landscape, your most important “job” may simply be to stay alive for the next 20 years or so to watch the hypothetical become reality … and to plan accordingly!
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