More and more of our clients are living into their hundreds. Many of our clients today are still active in their nineties. This can be a wonderful thing, as long and healthy lives can also be joyful and meaningful. We have the opportunity to see our grandchildren graduate from college, or get to know our great-grandchildren. Many of us will still have time to do some of those things on our goals lists. One of our nonagenarian friends completed her second or third book during the pandemic.
We are not the only ones to notice that the definition of elderly needs to be updated for current realities. According to Miho Inada of The Wall Street Journal, the Japan Gerontological Society and the Japan Geriatrics Society believe that “the 65-to-74 range now should be called ‘pre-old age.”* We think that we could come up with a much snazzier name than that, but the point is well taken. Our close friend informs us that the Japanese term is zenki koreisha, which sounds way better. Obviously, we need to adjust our vision of what our lives will look like both before and after 65. We may also need to come up with better concepts and better words for retirement. One thing that we have not retired is our American Heritage Dictionary. Its first definition of retire is “to go away; depart, as for rest, seclusion, or shelter.” Most of our clients are not in seclusion, but instead have places to go, people to see, and things to do. Recreational vehicle trips are popular, as are sailing, boating, and even seaplane piloting. Actually, we know people who do all four of these things. Our next few blog-posts will discuss the practical aspects of longer and more active lives as we design our financial plans for a successful zenki koreisha.
* Inada, M. “In Aging Japan, Under 75 Is the New ‘Pre-Old’”. The Wall Street Journal | Online/A-HED, Sept. 24, 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/aging-japan-demographics-elderly-under-75-pre-old-11632490841. Accessed on 09.28.2021