Despite the average United States lifespan experiencing a slight decrease, Americans still live longer than any previous generation. The average lifespan for a 65-year-old American is now 18 more years on average for men and 20.6 years for women.
A 65-year-old American man can expect to live to almost 83, an 85-year-old man can expect to live past 90, on average. “Older” people now feel younger and more energetic in comparison to historical trends; Americans are now living longer and healthier lives. With all of this being said, what exactly can affect one’s lifespan?
We have broken down a few factors that can influence one’s longevity:
- Exercise: Being active is one of the best ways to keep your body healthy. Exercise also can improve your overall well-being and quality of life. Regular activity helps the body maintain strength, stamina, and the ability to function correctly.
- Diet: Americans whose diets include fresh, whole foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean meats, and fish have a lower incidence of significant chronic disease and especially diet-related diseases.
- Blood Pressure & Family History: High blood pressure, history of cardiovascular problems and diabetes can indicate a shorter life expectancy.
- Alcohol Consumption: One study found that people drinking more than 25 drinks a week have a shorter life expectancy by four to five years.
- Height & Weight: A person’s life expectancy can be reduced by being overweight. Target weight is determined by height and weight. Exceeding that weight can reduce one’s life expectancy.
- Financial Stress: People under high levels of financial stress appear to have aged more over 10 years than people with low levels of financial stress.
- Smoking: In general, people who smoke will have a shorter life expectancy than those who don’t smoke. This calculator uses separate mortality tables for smokers and non-smokers.
Aging IQ was generated to help adults best adapt and plan for what is to come based on a series of metrics we provide. We take these aforementioned lifespan factors into account when offering suggestions to help improve one’s longevity. We have proprietary metrics that can help provide numerical results to prompt the discussion for changes in these factors to help with future planning. Our estimates are generated by AI-based data-driven technology powered by Longevity Market Assets and Lapetus Solutions.
A few of the metrics in which we base our suggestions include MyLifeScore, MyTrueAge and Policy Value IQ.
MyLifeScore is a measure that considers not only how old you are and how long your estimated lifespan is, but most importantly, how much of your lifespan will be spent in good health—your healthspan. This proprietary metric combines biological, demographical, and social trends to generate a unique score that depicts where you currently stand in your later years relative to others in your age group, while also offering suggestions for what you can do to improve your MyLifeScore. MyTrueAge extracts data from the photo of a person’s face using AI-based data-driven technology, along with a few key demographics, to generate feedback to help them best plan for their future. Policy Value IQ is a tool that gives you the knowledge you need to make an informed decision about your life insurance policy that can help you financially plan for your future.
