LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
Anne Speck: ‘My mom sent me this link from the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. It’s called the Longevity Game and it’s an interactive way to check your life expectancy and the changes you can make to improve it.’
☞ It has my mother living to 104, which seriously underestimates her resolve, and me living long enough to write ten thousand more of these columns, the thought of which is enough to take five years off my life – and perhaps yours – right there.
(Charles, it says, should eat more fruit and vegetables; but he’s Irish so it ain’t gonna happen.)
Having constructed one of these interactive life expectancy calculators for Managing Your Money 20 years ago – yes, we wrote your checks and kept track of your portfolios, but we also maintained your address book, reminded you of appointments and birthdays, estimated your taxes, provided a word processor, made rude comments about your net worth and estimated your life expectancy – I have some sense of the limitations. But Northwest did a pretty good job, and it can never hurt to get people thinking about walking more, smoking less, and eating broccoli florets. One key variable Northwest chose not to include: ‘Are you single or coupled?’ Single people live longer, because the stress of a relationship is murder. (Kidding! Kidding! Actually, loneliness is the killer . . . but my guess is that the love and companionship of a worthy pet may be nearly as life-extending, if less help doing the Sunday crossword or helping you pick out the right tie.)
Whatever it takes, I’m counting on you to live a long time.
HOW OVERPRICED IS YOUR HOME?
Lois Mitchell: ‘The Private Mortgage Insurance people rate metropolitan areas for the risk of a housing price decline in the next two years. Who knows how accurate their model is, but it is interesting nonetheless. Here is the link to the fall ratings.’
