Contributed by: Sandra Adams, CFP®, CeFT™
Longevity might just be one of the most important current topics in financial planning: how long will people live and how do financial planners help make sure their clients don’t run out of money before they run out of years? Ironically, many client conversations at The Center aren’t so much about will the money run out, but what will the money be spent on. Clients are concerned that the majority of their money will be spent on health and long term care expenses, and not the travel, leisure and meaningful family spending that they would prefer. What, clients ask, can they do to make sure that they can spend their money on the things they want to spend them on, not on those “costs of care?”
Before you start to think that this is a blog about Long Term Care insurance (that may be a blog for another day), think again! This is where I tell you that I was recently asked to read the book “Live Long, Die Short – A Guide to Authentic Health and Successful Aging,” by Roger Landry, MD, MPH, for a Long Life Planning advisory group that I am on, and it helped me answer some of these client questions. If clients were given tips on how to live their aging lives planning for being healthy for the long haul with only a short unhealthy “end,” wouldn’t that address the goal?
So how does Dr. Landry suggest we Live Long and Die Short?
Here are his Ten Tips for Successful Aging:
Use it or Lose it (Your Mind, Your Body, Your abilities)
Keep Moving
Challenge Your Mind
Stay Connected (Stay Social)
Lower Your Risks
Never Act Your Age!
Wherever You Are…Be There (Be Present)
Find Your Purpose
Have Children in Your Life
Laugh!
The research suggests that lifestyle, more than genetics, determines how we age. Dr. Landry suggests that the time is now to assess your lifestyle to make the necessary changes to get healthy and change your future path. You, too, can find a way to live long and die short. Find a way to direct your own aging future…and work with your financial planner to make sure your financial future is planned accordingly.
Sandra Adams, CFP® , CeFT™ is a Partner and Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® Sandy specializes in Elder Care Financial Planning and is a frequent speaker on related topics. In addition to her frequent contributions to Money Centered, she is regularly quoted in national media publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Research Magazine and Journal of Financial Planning.
This information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any opinions are those of Sandra Adams and Dr. Roger Landry, and are not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. Raymond James is not affiliated with nor does it endorse the services or opinions of Dr. Roger Landry.