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Game On: How Long Will You Live?

By Carla Fried | Nov 2, 2009 |

After playing around with some online calculators that spit out a personalized estimate of how long I can expect to live, I face this conundrum: If I don’t build up my retirement stash to support me through the very ripe old age of at least 95, my next best option might be to take up recreational drugs and increase my alcohol intake.

longevity calculatorsPerhaps that’s not the intended message of Northwestern Mutual Life’s Lifespan Calculator, but after honestly answering the calc’s 12 questions and being told I have a good shot at being around at 95, I was a tad curious how living it up a bit (more) might changes things. Voila, my life expectancy drops to a mere 80 years if I decide to go the alcoholic-druggie route.

For now I think I’ll just try and put a little more aside in my SEP-IRA.

Uncomfortably Numb(er)

After a wholly unscientific survey of these calculators (methodology: Google Longevity Calculator and test a few) my favorite is the Northwestern Mutual Longevity Game even though I scored a longer life when I plugged my stats into the AARP Vitality Compass (96.3 years old, with a promise/threat that I could add two more years to that if I “optimize my lifestyle”) and MoneyCentral’s calculator. (102 years old. Yikes!).

It’s just that the Northwestern Mutual calc has the added allure of a wonderfully cheesy graphic of a person whose attire and accoutrement undergo a Colorforms-esque evolution depending on your answers. My moderate drinking scored my avatar a water bottle in my hand; when I changed it to drinking five or more drinks in one sitting (reclining?) my water bottle was replaced with a wine bottle and bloodshot eyes. The bright red sedan bearing down on me when asked about my driving record was a bit off-putting, but hey it is a life-insurance company we’re dealing with here.

For a more studious estimate, take a spin through the Life Calculator ginned up by two Wharton academics and an assistant prof at Singapore Management University.

If your number gives you retirement pause, be sure to check out these tips for maximizing your 401(k).

Image via Flickr user  thenickster, CC 2.0

 
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  •  
    1

    jentimus

    11/06/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Game On: How Long Will You Live?

    The Wharton test is obviously for young people -- with only one bad habit (smoking), they have me dying next year, although their analysis says quitting only increases my life expectancy by 1.64 years.

    On the bright side, I obviously have nothing to lose ... unless the Google test is right and I've got another 40 years.

  •  
    2

    chasmagc@...

    11/24/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Game On: How Long Will You Live?

    The best way to avoid worries about living too long is to put your retirement money in a life annuity from a reputable firm like TIAA-CREF or Vanguard. Then you can take comfort in the thought that the longer you can manage to live, the more money you can squeeze out of the system.

  •  
    3

    famulla

    11/30/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Game On: How Long Will You Live?

    The Bigger craze that will leave the lessons on one side and we will be learnin g the hard way with the ball pen. No I have nothing against the games but i think we must draw w line with the tahe games that are still maiking milliona and those that distact you from the elssons of today. It is like a hookep, addiction ans we are blind. We wand our kids to stay occupied to the net, TV, and now games, no wonder we have lousy politicians I Thank you Firozli A Mulla

  •  
    4

    sreid08@...

    01/01/10 | Report as spam

    RE: Game On: How Long Will You Live?

    I don't think you trust the longevity calculator of an insurance company! Their gig is to get you to believe that you are going to live forever into retirement so that you will give them more money. Northwestern Mutual Life?s Lifespan Calculator has me living till I'm 71 with all of my bad habits - and frankly - I think that is way to long to live based on my bad habits - and I answered truthfully and honestly!

  •  
    5

    davidmward

    01/26/10 | Report as spam

    RE: Game On: How Long Will You Live?

    Interesting as I live in the UK are the results relevant
    As I am 72 I look forward to another 10 years of life according to the test. Which I answered truthfully, but was interested that the test did not include personal health questions. I take the additional 10 years of life with great pleasure. Does my heart condition and diabetes and other problems reduce their estimate? I think so. Still it was interesting.

  •  
    6

    umpump@...

    01/29/10 | Report as spam

    RE: Game On: How Long Will You Live?

    The Northwestern Mutual calculator also doesn't ask some very basic health questions (except for the question about blood pressure) that would allow such a calculator to make a reasonable accessment. It assumes that you are in GOOD health for the purpose of the calculation.

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    7

    palinmfn

    01/31/10 | Report as spam

    RE: Game On: How Long Will You Live?

    sreido8: Pretty funny that you would think that my friend, given that the company has been around for over 152 years and has been known as a life insurance company. Therefore, if you want to be technical, wouldn't the company want to make you think you were going to live a shorter period of time so that you would buy more of their life insurance products? Probably not the case in either argument. The longetivity calculator is a game, to make spend more time on the site, or at very best get you to think about your lifestyle choices. If you really think that the company is trying to scam you out of money by "altering" a lifespan calculator, than you have bigger problems than your retirement buddy.

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Carla Fried

Carla Fried started reporting on retirement way back when the 401(k) was a new-fangled oddity (i.e., the mid '80s). As a senior writer at Money magazine in the 1990s, she wrote extensively on retirement planning and investment and covered a wide range of personal financial topics, from real estate to insurance. She is a dot-com veteran, having served as the managing editor at Quicken.com. Since 2002 she has freelanced for publications and websites including Business 2.0, Kiplinger's, Money, The New York Times, and Real Simple.

Carla Fried

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