What was the cause of death? Had he lived clean, I think that he would have lived to a couple decades longer or more (old age is never a cause of death).
87yo is nothing. I insist on living to at least 100, I’m not money hungry, but living a long time is why I need a solid nest egg. I might not get my wish… but i think that, based on family history, I might make it.
I’m 47. I think that I would enjoy watching the world for another 53 years or more.[/quote]
You do understand that the bodies ability to reproduce new cells diminishes with age. And that’s predetermined genetically with something called telomeres. Google it. I hope you have long telomeres… but even long ones will eventually give out.
Additionally, brain function, cognition, memory decline with age – not necessarily full blown dementia, but just general decline. My 87 year old stepmom is starting to show signs of memory loss. Not full blown dementia – but has to write things down more than she used to. This is a woman who was teaching graduate students up till last year – very sharp… but you can’t stave off memory loss forever.
Financial planning for extended age is good. (I planned for age 100 in my retirement plans) But looking around me at parents, step parents, friends, in-laws, etc…. at some point the quality of life declines.
My grandmother effectively died of old age. She was 92 years old. Woke up, went to use the restroom, and died there. Apparently, this is very common. So unless you plan on giving up sh*tting, it could happen for you. Cause of death was listed as heart failure. (Not heart attack) – basically, her heart was no longer beating, so it failed.
My step granddad died at 96. He was lucid and very physically active till about 88. His health started declining as his cognition started declining and he moved in with his younger sister, and eventually into a nursing home. He had very little quality of life the last 3-4 years.
My FIL died at age 90 a year ago. He’d had dementia and loss of mobility for years. No quality of life.
My MIL is 87 and starting to decline physically. Arthritis, etc. She’s always been active, but doesn’t move as fast and has much poorer balance these days. Mentally dementia moved in about 2-3 years ago. She won’t admit it – but family needs to manage her affairs because she’s no longer capable.
You can hope to live to 100 or more with great quality of life. But sheer will, exercise, eating correctly aren’t enough. Sometimes the body and brain have other plans. Be realistic, hope for the best, plan for the worst.
