The Financial Industry and Longevity
From SmartMoney.com, another reminder that those with the most money on the table are betting on increasing healthy longevity: "Think you'll make it to your 100th birthday? Your insurance company does. And so does most of the financial world around you. ... That's presented a new challenge for financial planners, who traditionally have been able to follow the old models of folks retiring at 65 and dying within a good 10 years after that. The old approach of an advisor sitting down with you to make sure you had transitioned to a safe, yield-based portfolio the day you rode down your office elevator for the last time is out of date. And dangerous. Without a rethinking of longevity into the picture, a financial plan can become a recipe for running out of money well before you physically run out of steam. ... The life insurance companies have raised their actuarial tables to account for lifespans of 115 years. When we hear things like that, we think about it, and we now calculate our retirement plans to age 100. ... living longer can pose problems if there's inadequate financial planning, and the expectation of a longer life in retirement can pose some challenges for today's aging boomers. But 'it's a problem I hope to have myself.'"
Link: http://www.smartmoney.com/beyond/index.cfm?story=20070518