There’s a chance you’ll live to 100. So plan on it!

As seen in The Oakland Press

April 5th, 2026

There’s a chance you’ll live to 100. So plan on it!

by Ken Morris

I recently met with some clients who were looking to retire within the next few years. Some people, on occasion, view retirement as crossing the finish line. Time to take it easy with financial issues, time to get conservative with their money. I reminded them, of course, that retirement can easily represent a third of a person’s life. And, with that kind of time horizon, you need to dedicate some portion of your nest egg toward long-term growth. To help them visualize, I asked what they were earning twenty years ago, and if they could live on that amount today.

Longevity and escalating costs are the primary reasons why people fear outliving their money. There’s no way to know ahead of time how long we’ll need our money to last. This past autumn, I lost a young brother-in-law years before retirement was even on his radar. More recently, I lost two good friends just a few years into their retirement.

I currently have many clients deep into their retirement years that are approaching 100 years of age. They’re in relatively good health and, thanks to good planning and investing, are not in danger of outliving their nest egg. They planned to live to a ripe old age and are well prepared to do so. It’s a great feeling to leave assets to your heirs rather than being dependent on them for income, housing and care in your latter years.

Although it’s an unknown for any individual, the IAM life expectancy table of 2012 gives you an idea of how much longer you’ll live after you reach 65. If you’re alive at age 65, there’s a 50% chance you’ll reach 89 if you’re male. But if you’re female, you can expect to make it another year, to 90.

Of those who reach 89, one of four men will live to be 94 and one of four women will celebrate number 96.

And here’s something a bit surprising. Five out of every 100 men who make it to 65 will live to 100. And five out of every 100 women will live beyond 100.

Statistics and averages may just be numbers, but those numbers represent the lives of loved ones. Some are gone way too soon while others live long and fulfilling lives.

From a financial perspective, younger people need to protect themselves and their families from an unexpected death. Life insurance is the financial tool typically used to protect your family from an unforeseen tragedy.

Longevity protection is equally important. A sizable nest egg, pensions and Social Security all contribute to that goal. Many own long-term care policies as well. But in recent years, premiums have been climbing at an alarming rate, forcing them to either reduce benefits or drop coverage just at the time in life they’re likely to need it.

Annuities are another way to protect against longevity. They come in all shapes and sizes and are often difficult to understand. Some financial advisors rule them out, but I believe they should be considered because they could be a good fit for many households.

We don’t know when our last day will come, so it’s difficult to plan. That’s why planning as though you’ll be one of the 5% that makes it to the century mark is not a bad idea.