If You Could Live to 100, Would You Want To?
If you knew you’d live to be 100, what would you do differently today?
Whether we like it or not, Americans are living longer than ever before. For example, an American male born in 2008 can expect to live to the age of 75, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For girls, it’s 80. Back in 1960, it was 67 for boys and 73 for girls, on average.
Unfortunately, many of today’s generation of seniors and Superseniors are not experiencing the health or the joy of their extended years. Too many of them are rotting away in nursing homes unable to capitalize on their golden years. Their plight has skewed our view of aging giving many of us trepidation and fear about the reality of our extended life span.
NPR recently ran a story which further cements this point. The Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, who asked more than 2000 Americans how they feel about this extended life span. A majority (56 percent) say they aren’t interested in medical treatments that would let them live to see 120. Thirty-eight percent think it’s a fine idea.
