The Pacella Law Group

If you are planning ahead for retirement, including estate planning and long-term care — congratulations! That is something that everyone in California should do. But the problem is, how long do you plan for? What year might you run out of money? Or more importantly, what year could you begin to need your long-term health care?

According to a recent news article if you are using average life expectancy rates as part of your estate planning, you may be making a mistake. If you are planning ahead for 88 years, and live to be 100, how would that affect your plan? Or conversely, if you plan to be healthy until age 88, but your lifestyle indicates you could have health problems at age 78, are you ready for that?

How long you may live and the quality of your life depends upon genes to some extent, but also depends upon your lifestyle and life choices. There are a host of benefits to eating right and exercising, one of which is a longer life expectancy.

There are a number of online life expectancy calculators you can use to get an idea of life expectancy that may be a little closer to reality than a simple actuarial table. Some calculators consider your current health issues and those of your parents, while others focus on your lifestyle and social network.

Attempting to determine your expected longevity is an important aspect of overall estate planning. According to the Society of Actuaries (SOA) there is a 50/50 chance that you could live beyond the average life expectancy. Of course it is always possible to die in a random accident, but even that is something that you could plan for.

Planning ahead , including estate planning, long-term health insurance, can be accomplished with the assistance of professionals who can take your entire financial picture, as well as your individual life expectancy, into account.

Source: CBS Money Watch, “How long will you live?” Steve Vernon, June 26, 2012