You might already know that the average life expectancy of an individual has gone up dramatically in the last 20 years, but researchers are now finding that seniors are having more quality years alongside this. Not only are people living for longer, they are living with more years from of disability, too. A big reason for this is that people are having fewer complications related to cardiovascular illnesses and improvements in the treatment of vision problems.
In 1992, the average life expectancy for a 65 year old was 17.5 years. Only 8.9 of these were expected to be free of disability. But by 2008, this number had risen to 18.8 years, with the number of disability free years going up from 8.9 to 10.7. This means that the average 65 year old in 2008 should have been able to expect to have about 10 years where they are free of major illness and disability, giving them time to enjoy their retirement years, their family, and their friends.
There are many implications here. For one, it means that people are more likely to have more quality years after they retire, allowing them to retire and then have several years of recreational time. This is the immediate take away, but there are also a few more subtle things to know. One, it suggests that medical expenses are likely to be less. Yes, there are more disability free years for the average person, but there are also fewer disabled years because of the fact that the rate of change was different. In 1992, the average 65 year old could have expected to live their life with 8.6 years of disability. By 2008, this number had decreased to 8.1. This means that on average, fewer years are spent paying for senior care, medical treatments, and expensive medications. The other takeaway is that this information can act as a general guide for families as they plan for senior care. You can have a rough idea of when you as an individual would be expected to start needing assistance around the house and begin to plan ahead of time with more accuracy. If you’re currently 65 and in good health, it is realistic to expect that you will have another 10 years of healthy living ahead of you, and plan your finances accordingly.
The danger here is that these are averages we are talking about above. They are not 100 percent accurate for every individual. So yes, while having this information available as a general guide is helpful, you need to inspect your family’s unique situation on your own. It also doesn’t account for grey areas where a disability is present, but the person is still highly functioning. In cases like this, things like in-home care can help smooth the bumps over. Plenty of other low cost solutions exist, too.
There are health issues that are still concerns, too. Things like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and cancer can all change these numbers for an individual, and treatment for them remains at a level far below that of vision correction and cardiovascular health.
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