How are we boomers going to live out our long lives? I worry about this myself a lot. My concern is why I have sold our big house on PEI and moved to a small one here in Quebec near my kids. It is why we have set this house up to run on very low energy costs. It is why we bought in town so that we can walk everywhere if we have to.
I have a tiny pension and the government one too. I do have some savings but I wonder about their safety and again how long they will last.
The situation for most Americans - where I have the data - is dire.
75% of American nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in savings. Most have no pensions.
One of the biggest exposures that all older people have as they age in becoming chronically ill. What price illness? What price disability?
More than any factor - even energy costs - being chronically ill is the greatest threat that any boomer will have to how we live out these last decades.
This is why I took charge of my health. It is why I urge you to think about taking charge of yours too. For at our age, the forces of Natural Selection - that protect the young so that they can have kids - have abandoned us. We have no protection except what we do for ourselves. Here is more on this vital topic by the expert in aging, Professor Michael Rose.
You can do a lot to reduce your risks of becoming disabled by chronic illness. It is all about living your life as close as possible to our evolutionary fit. Eating what we are evolved to digest. Using our body as it needs to be used - that is being active, sleeping well and getting enough sun. And having a purpose and so a proper social place and connections.
These are all easier to find as we get older and have more time.
My guide for how to do this and why is here You Don't Need Medicine to get Healthy.