Fearless Money

“If I knew I was going to live forever, what skill, habit or experience would it make sense to bring with me?” Every few years, I revisit this simple (but big) question, and it never fails to spark some changes.

I don’t truly believe at this point that I can live forever, but the scope change helps me lift up my head and to really think about what will matter in the long term. Yes, many things will happen in any long period, and I certainly cannot predict all of them, but my core will remain. I’ll have my experiences, habits and my skills with me all that time, paying me back (or costing me) the whole time.

Life Expectancy

I was recently reading that a 60 year old adult today can easily expect to live to 80. A 50 year old woman, who has reached that point without cancer or other major debilitating illness can reasonably expect to live to 92. I’ve always had the “76″ age stuck in my head, and a bit of reading makes it clear that that figure comes from including childhood mortality. Healthy adults have made it through most of the woods, so to speak.

80 or 90 isn’t “forever”, but it does widen the scope somewhat. I’m only 37, not even halfway done with today’s life expectancy.

Also, with advances in biotech, I can easily see the 80-90 age getting pushed back to 100 or 110 by the time I reach it. My expectations for biotech really deserve their own article. The very-short version of my belief is that biotech is to this century as electicity & computers were to the last. Think about the advancements made during your grandparents’ lifetimes and then apply that to biotech, and you have some clue as to how interesting the road ahead truly is for biotech and medicine.

So, with moderate advancement of medicine, I am probably only a third of the way through my lifespan. Therefore, it makes sense to think about how I wish to live this vast span of time.

Previous times I asked this question

In my early twenties, I asked the question, and decided “I want to know how to give a good massage, which means I’ll never lack for friends.” It is difficult for me to connect with this being a primary focus, since it is so far from what I’ve become since then. But, I did it, I went to massage school, and I am still a decent masseur. I think the more important part of that focus was in the wanting friends to have throughout life. I recognized then as I do now that friends will enter and leave my life. For me, it is important to be a good friend and to be both open and able to make new friends at any age

In my late twenties, I asked the question, and decided “I want to have children, to have a passionate marriage, and to be a great father.” The problem was, I was married to a woman who didn’t want at least two of those things. The marriage ended before I was thirty, and a year later I found the woman who would make the fulfillment of my dream possible.

In my early thirties, I asked the question, deciding “I want to be healthier and have more energy. Smoking and drinking are sapping this energy, so I’ll quit them.” Both were more difficult to quit than I hoped, but I have now been sober and smoke-free for years.

Last year, I asked the question and came up with my most ambitious answer yet. “If I was going to live forever, I’d really rather not have to worry about money all that time. Besides, much of the medical technology that will make life extension possible will be very expensive. I intend to get and stay wealthy.”

Sustained wealth is different than retirement

For me, fulfilling this dream will mean developing the skills, habits and the mindset needed to get and stay wealthy. The basics of this are to spend less than I learn, to drop all fear of money, and to learn how it really works and flows in society. The advanced part is to free myself from being dependent on wages which are in any way linked to hours. It really is an all out effort, since it will touch almost every area of my life.

About a year later, I’m still excited about this new challenge, and I think that once again asking myself this simple question has led to my reaching a new stage in my life.

Technorati Tags: retirement, life stages