Understanding Living Longer

Tag Archives: global

A gift worth having….

When Bismark created the world’s first state pension scheme in the 1880s he never expected to pay out – it was simply a creative (and seemingly popular) tax raising exercise. Life expectancy in Germany at the time was 48, so 65 was selected for benefit payments to start, thus ensuring there were few, if any, […]

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Hot enough?

As I sit here with the doors open, waiting for the latest round in this summer of heatwaves to break, I wonder what the Global Warming activists are saying.  Is this an ‘I told you so’ moment for them, or does the fight go on?  There is little doubt that those on the other side […]

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A whole new stage…..

When I talk to people about living longer I can see their thought processes develop as the real implications begin to dawn. Initially the subject is dismissed as ‘something they already know’. There are constant media reports covering many of the common implications – growing demands on the health service, an increase in state pension age […]

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Changing the Scoreboard

One unexpected challenge facing those nearing the end of their ‘primary career’ is a need to change their core values – those unspoken expectations, often learnt at an early age, that have been subconsciously shaping their lives ever since. I’m not advocating radical change, just recognition that the rapid increase in life expectancy over the […]

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Playing the odds

Telling people that we are all living longer is fraught with dangers.  I have no special insight and am not being specific, I’m simply playing the odds.  By looking at the big picture I can be certain that the 70+ age group is the world’s fastest growing segment – what I can’t say with certainty is who […]

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Has it really come to an end….?

Has it really come to an end….? You have to go back in history a long way to find a time when the average life expectancy of one generation was less than the preceding one – maybe during the Black Death or possibly the Potato Famine. Whenever it was it is almost certain that there […]

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