Rockin’ your 90s

Elizabeth never really thought about hitting 90 years of age but she reached the milestone in August complete with a surprise birthday celebration and a basket of UK sweets and goodies from her family.

A former school teacher who came to Canada when she was 39, Elizabeth ascribes her longevity, ironically, to the hardships she endured when she was a teenager during the Second World War.

A lack of food and a scarcity of sugar meant her family was fed from the vegetables they could harvest from their victory garden. With gas also unavailable she had to cycle to school. She believes the healthy food and exercise may have been a contributing factor in her reaching her landmark birthday.

Elizabeth is one of the increasing number of Canadians who are hitting their 90s and statistics show that those nearing the century mark will be a larger and more influential part of society in the future.¹

Consider that life expectancy in Canada in 1921 for women — the decade that Elizabeth was born — was just 56 years.² Now, for a woman who will be 30 in 2025, the median life expectancy is projected to be 90, while for men, it’s 87.8.³ And there will be many more nonagenarian (what you call a person in their 90s) birthday parties to come as the 90 to 99 population grew by 34% from 2011 to 2016.⁴

So, many of us may wonder, is this my future? Can you look in the mirror and see yourself as 90? Greyer, for sure, a bit slower, and certainly more weathered for the years you’ve put in, but still you, and still up for life’s new challenges.

And if you can envision yourself at 90, you probably want to address basic questions about your lifestyle, your health and finances now, when you’re employed, and not when you’re 85. You know the old refrain, not to outlive your money? If you burn through your retirement savings early in retirement you may have to drastically adjust your living standards later in life. That becomes even more important when you realize you might have another decade or more to your life than you counted on. If that’s so, here are some ideas and considerations for those who want to start planning for 90, whether you’ve got grey in your hair now or not.

Plan to be healthy

What’s the fun in living to a ripe old age if you aren’t healthy enough to enjoy it? While people hitting 90 now tend to be healthier than previous generations and are the beneficiaries of medical improvements during their lives, we can all benefit from choosing a healthier lifestyle and giving ourselves the best chance of living as long as possible.⁵ Dr. Adam Stewart, a family physician, from Madoc, Ontario, and MoneyTalk columnist says that while people can and should take care of themselves when it comes to living longer, some factors may be out of our control. These are the genetic and socio-economic factors that govern our lives.⁶ For instance, if longevity runs in your family, that’s great. And if you are one of the many Canadians with a drug plan, that’s a big plus too.

Beyond that, health issues begin to get complicated. Stewart says he’s a proponent of healthy lifestyles that include exercise, nutrition and the moderation of social vices like alcohol. He says that a healthy regimen may keep you fit overall, but it won’t guarantee you’ll hit 90.

Stewart says positive factors involving health are linked: Exercise builds muscle, helps control weight and leads to better sleep. Sleep restores the body and also helps us deal with stress. Better stress control allows us to deal better with life’s addictions, including junk food and booze, which in turn can help control weight, prevent diabetes and give us a better overall outlook in life.

One thing that Stewart will say adamantly is that smoking can definitely shorten your life and can bring on many afflictions, the most obvious of which are cancer and cardio-pulmonary diseases. Check out Adam Stewart’s Top 7 Health To Dos.

Plan to be secure at 90

One simple consideration to help feel financially in control at 90 is to save early, save more and have a plan to make it happen, according to Sandra Bussey, a High Net Worth Planner with TD Wealth. But she also says people should start thinking about a whole lot of other financial questions that may influence how much they need to save.

The major decisions can include, when do you want to retire and what kind of lifestyle would you like when you get there? Getting these questions right early precludes less welcome thoughts you may have to think about like, how long will you be forced to work to meet a savings goal, or what kind of income you’ll be forced to live on?

For example, how much of your retirement savings you will consume each year will have a big impact on how long the savings will last and therefore, how much you may need to save. While it’s a matter of debate and personal preference, Bussey says, the rule of thumb is that we need 70% of our working income in retirement. That number presumes that mortgage payments are gone, work-related expenses like clothing and transportation costs are eliminated.

However, everyone is different. If indications are correct that people will be healthier for longer, you might have a higher rate of activity at that age than your parents did, perhaps running up more travel costs and packing in more trips to the golf course. In any case, turning your mind to what you want to do in retirement and how much it will cost can help take some unknowns out of the equation, Bussey says.

As well, thinking about a retirement savings plan might include a myriad of other possible life expenses ranging from paying for a child’s master’s degree to funding a spouse’s enhanced health care for the last 20 years of their life. While it’s hard to make decisions about your life decades in the future, about amounts of money that have yet to earned, Bussey says people should begin to consider what’s involved and how different life goals pull at your money at different times, even if the primary goal is to have a comfortable life at 90.

What saving early can do

Bussey illustrates the potential benefit of saving early with a scenario. In her example, she compares two couples, Dai and Min and Noah and Agathe, who embark on two different savings plans.