Picture a 100th birthday party. The toast comes from the guest of honor’s son, who is 74 and a few years into his own retirement. Four generations crowd into the family photo, and the youngest guest is not yet walking.
Scenes like this one are becoming increasingly common. The number of Americans who reach 100 is projected to climb sharply in the coming decades. Research has long linked higher income to longer life expectancy, and more than nine in 10 wealthy Americans surveyed by Bank of America this year said longer life expectancy is an important consideration in their planning.1
A longer life is a gift. It also changes how we think about work, health, money and family.
The second act gets longer
Someone who retires at 62 today could reasonably spend 35 years or more in retirement, which is longer than many careers.
These years don’t have to look like a “traditional” retirement. A former executive could decide to launch a company at 67, or a business owner who sold at 60 may join a nonprofit board, mentor the next generation or buy a small farm in Upstate New York.
A longer life creates room for more chapters.
Health becomes the first asset
The extra years only feel like a gift when they are healthy ones. Researchers refer to this as health span, the number of years a person lives in good health.
For families with significant resources, health span is increasingly becoming an area of investment, from preventive care and comprehensive annual physicals to trainers focused on strength, mobility and balance.
The trend is showing up in real estate, too. Sotheby’s International Realty identified longevity as a breakout trend in luxury real estate this year, with ultra-wealthy buyers seeking wellness focused features and homes designed to support aging in place.2
Four generations at the table
Longevity reshapes retirement, but it also changes how families think about inheritance.
When parents live to 100, their children may not inherit until their 70s, long after the years when that support could have mattered most for a first home, growing family or other major milestones.
This is leading more families to rethink the traditional model of passing down wealth only after death. Family wealth today might instead support education expenses, a down payment, or a family trip that brings everyone together and creates memories across generations.
It can also mean bringing adult children into conversations about the family’s plans earlier, while there is time to answer questions, share values and make decisions together.
Living longer gives wealth more time to be useful, not just more time to last. It creates more years to pursue what matters, invest in your health, help the people you love and enjoy the life you’ve built.
Planning for a long life is ultimately about making the most of those years. Our team helps clients think through what they want the next several decades to look like and how their wealth can support it.
