About 30 percent of us will die before age 65. Do you have a plan B for your investments, in case you're unlucky?

[johnchristianforum]

I'm primarily thinking of people on this sub who invest for their retirement.

Do you have a plan for where your money should go, if you die before you get to use it, e.g. if you get cancer and die at age 63? Presumably many will be happy to pass it on to the immediate family, but have you actually thought about this, and perhaps even made a concrete plan?

(Sauce on age/death data: http://employees.oneonta.edu/vomsaaw/w/psy345/handouts/demograf.pdf )

Edit: thanks for pointing out potential flaws in the life expectancy projection. To add one of my own: people on this sub will probably live longer than the avg. American anyways, e.g. due to higher ed, access to health care, perhaps healthier lifestyles. The point remains: some of us will die way earlier than we hoped. Considering that so many here talk about 401k maxxing, etf-till-you-retire, etc., do you prep for this undesirable Plan B outcome?

 

[enostheyounger]

@johnchristianforum I will simply not die

 

[williamlhk]

@enostheyounger Yes but there can be only one.

 

[jaxon13]

@williamlhk With my sword and head held high.

 

[valerie01]

@enostheyounger I declare immortality!

 

[lady_t]

@valerie01 You can't just type that you're immortal...

 

[seayain]

@lady_t He didn't type it, he declared it.

 

[child777]

@enostheyounger Greatest solution. Just don’t die. Problem solved

 

[life4h1m]

@enostheyounger r/longevity my man

 

[playnjayn]

@johnchristianforum I'm looking froward to the day my money sends my wife and her new husband on a nice trip to Hawaii.

 

[insiderinfo]

@playnjayn As long as my wife's happy, she can do whatever she wants with my money.

 

[alien0]

@insiderinfo This made me smile and was a great sentiment to start this day off with

 

[miles44]

@playnjayn Hey look this guy has a wife, show off

 

[godisagardener]

@miles44 I had his wife too

 

[tmareej]

@godisagardener I, too, choose this hypothetically dead guy's wife.

 

[devotedbaker54]

@johnchristianforum Thats not how life expectancy works. A 30 year old has WAY lower than 30% of dying before 65. By nature of surviving birth, childhood and adolescence that probability goes way down.

 

[inchristcah]

@devotedbaker54 Actually, only 6-7% of people who die before 65 do so before 25. At 30 it's like 9%. The stat we are referring to here might be a bit closer to 25% than to 30%, but isn't too far off.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

Childhood/adolescence are actually the least probable years of death (measured as probability that you will die during that year), except for the first year of life. At birth you have about the same probability of dying (within one year) as someone who is in their mid 50s.

The least probable age to die at is 10, then the probability of death for every subsequent year increases.

A 25 year old has about a 4x probability of dying within a year as a 1 year old.

 

[devotedbaker54]

@inchristcah Ok, but my point was that by reaching 30, your life expectancy is much higher than it is at birth. Which is true. Not exactly sure what your trying to clarify.

 

[providenciaet]

@devotedbaker54 /@inchristcah source mathematically demonstrates that you're wrong though. A baby born today has a life expectancy of 76.04 years. A 30 year old today has a life expectancy of 47.72 ( 30 + 47.72 = 77.72). So the 30 year old has 1.68 expected more years than a newborn. Which isn't "much higher".

Source: am actuary

 

[devotedbaker54]

@providenciaet Still right though by 1.68 years. You’re just arguing semantics for some dumbass reason. The point is correct conceptually. A 68 year old doesn’t have a life expectancy of 76.04. I just chose the wrong age for my example.