Momo Productions | Digital Vision | Getty Images
First, the good news: Americans are living longer than ever before.
Now, here’s the bad news: Older Americans are spending more and more time in poor health. Medical and financial experts say this dynamic often has negative financial consequences.
Since 1960, the average American life expectancy has increased to 77.5 Roughly from 70 years oldAccording to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But “healthy lifespan” is also shortening.
Healthspan refers to the number of years that older adults are in basic health, said Susan Roberts, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Dartmouth College and senior associate dean for basic research.
Today, the average person spends about 10 years dealing with chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, dementia, cataracts or osteoporosis, roughly the same length of time they spent in the 1960s, Roberts said. double.
The result, she said, is “a growing gap” between lifespan and healthy lifespan.
That’s because medicine has gotten better at keeping patients alive, though not necessarily treating them, Roberts said. Obesity is the root cause of many chronic diseases and is more prevalent, she said. obesity Influence According to data released by the CDC in 2021, 42% of U.S. adults have the disease.
How health affects wealth
Fat Camera | Electronics+ | Getty Images
Stacy Francis, a certified financial planner in New York and a member of the American Family Finance Association, said the concept of health span is “increasingly important” to family finances. CNBC Advisory Board.
Francis, president and CEO of Francis Financial, said adults are spending more time “living less than optimal lives.” “This will result in huge expenses.”
About 90% of the $4.5 trillion in annual health care costs in the United States is spent on people with chronic diseases and mental health issues. according to to the CDC.
Once people become chronically ill, the cost of medical care “gets worse,” Roberts said.
More from Personal Finance:
Credit card spending growth slows
Cryptocurrency relationship scams cause ‘catastrophic harm’
What to do with RMDs when you don’t need the money
The average number of people retiring this year will be 65 years old. Cost about $165,000 Out-of-pocket health and medical expenses in retirement will increase 5% from 2023 levels, according to Fidelity Investments.
Out-of-pocket treatment costs and early retirement due to ill health Two major ways Experts say chronic diseases can affect a family’s financial well-being.
Carolyn McClanahan, a physician and CFP in Jacksonville, Fla., said retiring early could mean taking Social Security earlier than expected, which could result in a reduction in monthly benefits.
“A person’s health directly affects their wealth — a connection that becomes more severe as people age,” said Susan Silberman, senior director of research and evaluation at the National Council on Aging. explain in the 2022 briefing.
Of course, this is not to say that healthy people can avoid significant medical expenses.
If they need long-term care, for example, they could end up paying more than someone who’s not healthy, and long-term care can be very expensive, said McClanahan, founder of Life Planning Partners and a CNBC advisory member. And as you get older, this possibility becomes more likely.
Additionally, healthy people experience more “busy” years, meaning they can travel and spend time doing interesting things, she said.
invest in yourself
“By the time you get to your 40s and 50s, you’ve reached the point of no return,” McClanahan said.
She said if adults don’t start taking care of their health at this age, they’ll be more susceptible to chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, which can lead to sudden problems like stroke and heart disease.
Think of buying healthy food, a gym membership or exercise classes as an investment in yourself, says Frances. Prioritize your health spending, she says, and if it feels like you have too much money, try cutting back on spending that “won’t extend your healthspan.”
“I think of it like an investment in my 401(k),” Francis said.
“The extra money … will extend your life and you’ll make up for it,” she said.
Roberts said more than half of people can reverse a diabetes diagnosis by losing 10 percent of their body weight within the first seven years after diagnosis.
Roberts said the “great tragedy” of chronic diseases is “that they are preventable.” A few dietary changes — cutting out sugary drinks like soda and juice and eating healthy snacks like apples — can make a “huge difference,” she said.
“Learning to like healthy food is actually not that difficult,” Roberts said. “Practice for a few weeks and be patient with yourself.”
About The Author
