Are you ready to grow old?

For many people, promises of life extension sound more like something out of a dystopian Tomorrowland than a science based projection. It conjures visions of cryogenic preservation, gene manipulation and cyborg hybrid humans. But extended lifespans are not a science fantasy, they are here and now. The question is not “when will it happen?” but “are you prepared for the implications?”

I’m old enough to appreciate first hand just how different ageing is now compared to the experiences of our forebears.

The Old Age Pension was first introduced in In Australia in 1909 with eligibility initially set at 65 for men and 60 for women. That created the first statistically and economically meaningful definition of the term “old age”. Cynically, life expectance at that time was 55 for men and 59 for women so it was clearly designed not to be a significant social burden.

Today, average life expectancy in Australia is 85.1 years for women and 81.1 years for men and it is still increasing by about 1.5% annually. That’s an increase of 26-30 years since the introduction of retirement benefits. And yet the age for pension eligibility has shifted only two years to 67, and that wasn’t until 2023. And that has huge ramifications.

When my father worked, it was assumed that retirement, for those lucky enough to reach it, signalled a relatively brief wind-down period – an opportunity to reflect on one’s life journey, make necessary lifestyle adjustments, put one’s affairs in order and die. All within a handful of years usually punctuated by multiple health challenges.

Today, it is possible to retire with optimism that there will be another 20 years and more to look forward to. Retirement is now seen as heralding the dawn of a third age of renewal. It is the opportunity to set new ambitions and goals, whether for travel, re-education, volunteerism or even retooling for a whole new career.

That’s the good news and there has been much in the media about the implications of this demographic shift for the broader economy, intergenerational inequity, and the resulting social burden on institutions such as our barely coping health system.

All that aside, let’s consider how well we have positioned ourselves to make the most of this treasure chest of opportunity waiting for us at the end of our personal rainbow.

Sobering statistics

According to the latest data available (2022) from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, if you are a man and you turned 65 in 2018 you can expect to live, on average, another 20.3 years.

The not so good news is that only 9.3 years are likely to be without disability. The remaining 11 are likely to be lived with some form of acquired disability and of those years almost one third, around 3.5 years, will be lived with severe or profound disability. 

Women fare slightly better with a  longer life but a larger proportion accompanied by severe or profound disability. A woman aged 65 in 2018 can expect to live another 10 years without disability and an additional 12 years with some level including around 5.5 years with severe or profound disability.

The increase in disability prevalence with age is profound. Only 15% of people under the age of 65 live with a disability, compared to 52.3% of those aged 65 and over. And as you can see in the chart below, you’re on an exponential curve after that.

Prevalence of disability by age and gender - Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (2022)

And what are these acquired disabilities?

Most commonly they are physical (eg loss of mobility, diabetese), intellectual (eg dementia), psychosocial (eg depression), sensory/speech (eg hearing or sight loss) or head injury (eg stroke).

The good news is that many of these can be avoided in the first place, or at least considerably deferred, by adopting preventative behaviours, what we refer to as our lifestyle choices.

For instance, we have plenty of data demonstrating the negative health impacts of behaviours such as smoking, excessive drinking and overeating – all subject to our free will (albeit with varying degrees of agency).

Less obvious is that loss of mobility is commonly associated with muscle atrophy (remember use it or lose it?) Without intervention, we stand to lose 30% of our muscle mass by the time we reach 70 yet simple resistance exercise can mitigate and even reverse that decline.

Consider this, if you can convert those last 11-12 years of acquired disability to healthy, fully functioning years, haven’t you effectively gained a decade?

So that’s the first challenge for you that hopefully this web-site can help you tackle - how to maximise the quality of the third age of your life by extending your health span. And you will be amazed at the uplift in your mental health if you face that third age with the excitement of a promising new beginning rather than with the dread of a miserable ending.

That’s not some dystopian fantasy. That’s here and now and within reach. After all, here I am writing my first blog in a new career as an on-line mentor – at the age of 93.

Welcome to your next life.

Dr John Levin