older age

The Fear Shared By Most (Not Just Another Random Thought on Retirement)

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If there’s one thing Americans fear more than death, it might be outliving their savings. That’s one finding from an annual survey by the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement. It found that 67% of Americans worry more about running out of money than death. Americans fear this retirement setback more than death – https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/05/04/retirement-fears-outliving-savings/89897704007/

Yes dear reader, yet another post in the never ending series of random thoughts on retirement. For the curious, here’s a link to some previous posts https://lifeunderwriter.net/tag/retirement/. I am an Old Guy who is old enough to be retired but isn’t retired and still working. After many mornings spent in deep contemplation and many posts where I think out loud I’ve finally accepted my fate and come to a deeper understanding of why I do what I do.

I’ve spent a lifetime working in risk management. Finally, the light bulb came on.

I am actively managing my longevity risk. It’s what I do. I manage risks.

The majority of our friends are retired. I’m always asked when I’m going to retire. My answer was always “Don’t know”. I subsequently modified my response to “Two to four years”. This has been my answer for the past two years. But now when someone asks when I will retire, my answer will be:

I am managing my longevity risk. I am managing future inflation risk.

Imagine you retire at 65, feeling confident. You’ve budgeted $80,000 a year to live comfortably — travel, dining out, covering healthcare, the works.

Fast-forward 25 years.

At age 85, you’re still spending about $80,000 a year … but that no longer buys what it used to.

  • That nice dinner out that cost $100 now costs about $210
  • A $5,000 annual vacation is now closer to $10,500
  • Groceries that ran $10,000 a year are now over $21,000

In other words, your $80,000 lifestyle now costs roughly $168,000 to maintain.

But if your income hasn’t kept pace — if it’s still around $80,000 — your lifestyle has effectively been cut in half. Inflation Is the New Fixed Expense in Retirement https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/retirement-planning/inflation-the-new-fixed-expense-in-retirement

Economist Teresa Ghilarducci is of the opinion working longer is not a plan but an illusion.

My colleagues Anthony Webb, Michael Papadopoulos and I called it an illusion. In paper The Illusory Benefits of Working Longer on Financial Preparedness for Retirement, we found that older workers with insufficient savings are routinely advised to delay retirement — but that this advice collides with the reality of what the labor market actually offers aging workers. 62-Year Old Works His Whole Life. He Has No Savings. He’s Not Unusual. – https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2026/05/21/62-year-old-works-his-whole-life-he-has-no-savings-hes-not-unusual/

Ghilarducci is spot on with her assessment. My plan on working longer wasn’t really a plan so much as it was a set of assumptions. Everything had to go as “planned” or forget about working longer. The two major variables were continued good health and finding an employer that values older workers.

I got lucky. My illusion is working (pun intended).

Neurodegenerative Copathology

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About 20 years ago, neuropathologists began to report an inconvenient finding in the autopsied brains of people with dementia: Most have evidence of more than one disease. Studies since have shown the brains of up to half of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease also have a key feature of Parkinson’s disease—deposits of the protein alpha synuclein. At the same time, up to half of Parkinson’s patients who develop dementia have elevated levels of beta amyloid and tau proteins, hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. Most dementia patients have multiple brain diseases – https://www.science.org/content/article/most-dementia-patients-have-multiple-brain-diseases-how-should-they-be-treated

Yikes.

Eat More Eggs

Colorectal Cancer and Mortality Risk Among Older Adults

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Conclusions and Relevance  Adults 75 years of age or older with adenoma at prior colonoscopy were more likely to experience subsequent CRC and CRC death compared with those without adenoma, but cumulative risks were low and were far exceeded by competing risks for non-CRC death. Older adults may consider deprioritizing surveillance colonoscopy relative to other health concerns. Colorectal Cancer and Mortality Risk Among Older Adults With vs Without Adenoma on Prior Colonoscopy – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2847311

(Less Than) Random Thoughts on Retirement – 05.03.26

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Yes dear reader, yet another post in the never ending series of random thoughts on retirement. https://lifeunderwriter.net/tag/random-thoughts-on-retirement/

Though the traditional retirement age in the U.S. typically falls between 62 and 67, many Americans continue working beyond that point. As of 2024, slightly more than 22% of adults aged 65 and older are still employed, either full-time or part-time. Though the traditional retirement age in the U.S. typically falls between 62 and 67, many Americans continue working beyond that point. As of 2024, slightly more than 22% of adults aged 65 and older are still employed, either full-time or part-time. – https://financebuzz.com/working-in-retirement-data

I’m not the only Old Guy who is still working past age 65.

But despite the fact I’m not the only Old Guy who is still working past age 65 more people are starting retirements earlier than they expected (always have a Plan B and maybe even a Plan C).

2026 EBRI/Greenwald Retirement Confidence Survey https://www.ebri.org/content/2026-ebri-greenwald-retirement-confidence-survey

I just learned I’m not the only Old Guy who still has a mortgage.

Over the past three decades, the share of homeowners ages 65 to 79 with a mortgage rose from 24% to 41%, while median mortgage debt surged by 400%, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. More Americans aging into retirement are still paying down mortgages – https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/06/09/more-older-americans-continue-to-pay-mortgages

I also learned about the disappearance of structured cognitive demand in retirement.

A 2025 systematic review published in Health Psychology Review found that retirement is associated with measurable cognitive decline, not just because people age, but because structured cognitive demand disappears. Researchers have called it “mental retirement”: The brain follows the body’s example and withdraws from challenge. Gary Has a Plan for Retirement: Crash on the Sofa and Veg. Here’s the Problem With That …https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/retirement-planning/your-long-term-retirement-plan-needs-a-purpose

I’m now paranoid about the disappearance of structured cognitive demand with a mortgage to pay off and too scared to retire.

Scary Charts 04.17.26 (random thoughts on retirement and longevity risk)

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There is a significant chance that you will live for many years beyond the average, and you should consider this possibility when thinking about your retirement. The Actuaries Longevity Illustrator (“ALI”) has been developed as an educational tool by the American Academy of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries to help you gauge what those chances are. Reflecting on your longevity will allow you to consider the risks of outliving your financial resources, i.e., the chance of running out of money during your lifetime, which we refer to as retiree financial longevity risk . The ALI helps you to consider those risks by letting you see how long you might live. https://www.longevityillustrator.org/

Try this calculator to see your probability of living to certain ripe old age.

More Random Thoughts on Retirement – 03.28.26

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We plan for the money. We don’t plan for the Monday morning when no one needs you to be anywhere.

Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, published a landmark meta-analysis in 2015 involving over 3.4 million participants. Her finding: social isolation increases the risk of premature death by 26%, and loneliness by 29%. Those numbers rival the health impact of smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. We treat smoking as a public health crisis. We treat retirement loneliness as a personal failing.

Nobody ever tells you that retirement doesn’t just end your career, it ends the only social structure that was generating daily human contact, and that most people don’t realize their workplace was their entire community until the day they leave it – https://vegoutmag.com/lifestyle/j-a-nobody-ever-tells-you-that-retirement-doesnt-just-end-your-career-it-ends-the-only-social-structure-that-was-generating-daily-human-contact-and-that-most-people-dont-realize-their-workplace-was-th/

Yes dear reader, yet another post in the never ending series of random thoughts on retirement. https://lifeunderwriter.net/tag/random-thoughts-on-retirement/

Though the traditional retirement age in the U.S. typically falls between 62 and 67, many Americans continue working beyond that point. As of 2024, slightly more than 22% of adults aged 65 and older are still employed, either full-time or part-time. Though the traditional retirement age in the U.S. typically falls between 62 and 67, many Americans continue working beyond that point. As of 2024, slightly more than 22% of adults aged 65 and older are still employed, either full-time or part-time. – https://financebuzz.com/working-in-retirement-data

So I’m not the only Old Guy who is still working past age 65.

Benefits of Physical Activity in Older Adults

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Benefits of physical activity in older adults.

Longevity

The association between physical activity and mortality and morbidity is well established. A 2023 meta-analysis of large prospective studies that examined dose–response found that physical activity levels equivalent to the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity reduced all-cause mortality by 31% compared with no physical activity.12 The authors used metabolic equivalent of task (MET), the ratio of work metabolic rate to resting metabolic rate. One MET is equivalent to the energy cost of sitting quietly. A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis found that, among middle-aged and older adults (aged ≥ 40 yr), higher levels of total physical activity were associated with reduced risk of death in a dose–response relation, such that the most, second-most, and third-most active quartiles were associated with 0.47, 0.35, and 0.28 hazard ratios, respectively, compared with the least active quartile.13 According to a large 2019 observational study, resistance exercise is also associated with reduced mortality independent of aerobic exercise.14 Two 2022 meta-analyses found, respectively, that 60 minutes of resistance exercise per week is associated with a risk reduction of 27% in all-cause mortality15 and that muscle-strengthening activities for 30–60 minutes per week is associated with a 10%–20% reduction.16

Cardiorespiratory fitness and peak exercise capacity are associated with mortality. Peak exercise capacity is a better indicator of risk of death than established cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus.17 A study examining cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults found dose-dependent reductions in mortality across all age groups (including participants aged 60–69, 70–79, and 80–95 yr).18 Substantial improvements (approximately 16%) in VO2max (an individual’s maximum rate of oxygen consumption, a strong indicator of mortality19) in older adults can occur with only 90 minutes of submaximal exercise per week over 16–20 weeks.20

Strength is also associated with reductions in all-cause mortality in older adults. A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis found a linear inverse relation between handgrip strength and all-cause mortality up to sex-dependent thresholds (42 kg for men, 25 kg for women) in older adults.21 In their 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors found both handgrip and knee extension strength to be predictors of all-cause mortality in adults, with most of the studies examining adults older than 65 years.22 – Move more, age well: prescribing physical activity for older adults CMAJ January 27, 2025 197 (3) E59-E67; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.231336

The Best Resistance Training Program

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A key takeaway from the updated guidelines is that the biggest benefits often come from a simple starting point. Transitioning from no resistance training to any regular activity can lead to meaningful improvements. While factors such as load, volume, and frequency can be adjusted, experts say the main priority for most adults should be building a routine they can follow consistently.

Another important shift in the recommendations is the recognition that effective resistance training does not require access to a gym. Exercises using elastic bands, bodyweight movements, or simple at home routines can still produce measurable gains in strength, muscle size, and daily function. McMaster University. “The best strength training plan might be simpler than you think.” ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260319074552.htm

Source: https://acsm.org/resistance-training-guidelines-update-2026/

Resistance is not futile.

The Nutritional Challenges of Advanced Age

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The study focused exclusively on adults 80 and older, a group with very different dietary requirements than younger adults. As people age, the body goes through significant physiological changes. Energy expenditure decreases, and losses in muscle mass, bone density, and appetite are common. Together, these changes increase the risk of malnutrition and frailty.

Most evidence for the health benefits of diets that exclude meat comes from studies of younger adults rather than frail older populations. Some research suggests older non-meat eaters face a higher risk of fractures due to lower calcium and protein intake.

In later life, nutritional priorities shift. Rather than focusing on preventing long-term diseases, the goal becomes maintaining muscle mass, preventing weight loss and ensuring every mouthful delivers plenty of nutrients. Study finds vegetarians over 80 less likely to reach 100 -The Conversation. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260225081214.htm “Study finds vegetarians over 80 less likely to reach 100.” ScienceDaily. (accessed February 27, 2026).

Story Source:

Materials provided by The Conversation. Original written by Chloe Casey, Lecturer in Nutrition and Behaviour, Bournemouth University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.