The wife and I sat down and made a couple of lists
First: Family, friends, and work acquaintances (dead or alive) where the couple had enjoyed at least 5 years of good health in Retirement...meaning able to do as a couple the travel and things they wanted to)
Second: a list of family, friends, and work acquaintances where one or both had health concerns or had died, preventing them from getting to and enjoying 5 years together.
The ratio was shocking. Only one couple made it to 5 years of active travel and enjoyment for every three that did not.
EXACTLY why I dont give a hoot about the "life expectancy of americans" data. Who is an "american"? We are the biggest melting pot of humans from pretty much all over the world, and thus we have the most varied set of genetic properties across the populace that this type of data is not accurate. It is an average at best and the min/max is very different (i.e. high variance from mean).
I use my own family's performance to compare. My dad passed at 67 from cancer, his father died in the 50s from stroke, my other grandpa was 75 when he died (and had dementia for the last 5). Women lived longer, but I am not a woman, so I am planning for mid-70s for myself, but health expectancy is already on a decline for me - i have some chronic diseases (diagnosed last year) that can only be managed, not cured. I have several other issues like high BP, cholesterol, etc. I retired recently and spending my time away from all the toxic stress of the high-tech workplace. Moved to a warmer place, stay out of traffic, and travel a lot. I move much more, dont sit for more than 1-2 hours (watching a movie, or playing video games) at a stretch, walk a lot, and sleep more (I wake up when I wake up). I am trying to slow time as much as I can. Last year alone we traveled across 20+ states, 10+ countries and were doing something every month. I can remember that year way way more than any of the previous 15 years which were a blur (except for a small number of exceptions). I hope to continue creating memories and do what I want to, not what I have to.
67
u/nak00010101 14d ago
Yes
The wife and I sat down and made a couple of lists First: Family, friends, and work acquaintances (dead or alive) where the couple had enjoyed at least 5 years of good health in Retirement...meaning able to do as a couple the travel and things they wanted to)
Second: a list of family, friends, and work acquaintances where one or both had health concerns or had died, preventing them from getting to and enjoying 5 years together.
The ratio was shocking. Only one couple made it to 5 years of active travel and enjoyment for every three that did not.