Rich people spend money to live to 100 years old
People with more than $50 million are willing to part with nearly half their assets to live an extra 10 years.
Over the past few decades, the average human lifespan has been increasing. In China, the United States, and most Eastern European countries, life expectancy is approaching 80, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). People in Western Europe and Japan can expect to live into their 80s.
However, most wealthy people expect to live longer. In the latest survey by UBS Financial Services, 53% of wealthy investors expect to live to 100.
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Rich people are willing to spend a lot of money on health-related services. Photo:AFP |
Reaching the triple digits is certainly not easy, but it is not impossible. The average life expectancy of Japanese women is currently 87, while that of men is 81. Many studies have also shown that being wealthy is an advantage in prolonging life.
In the United States, for example, women in the top 1% of income groups live 10 years longer than the poorest 1%, according to a 2016 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. For men, the gap is 15 years.
The wealthy know that living to 100 is an expensive aspiration. It requires spending more on health, food, exercise, and other related services. In the UBS survey, 91% of respondents (those with a net worth of $1 million or more) said they were “making financial changes to increase their longevity.”
They also worry about rising health care costs, but are willing to sacrifice money to live longer. Nine out of 10 wealthy people agree that “health is more important than money.” When asked how much of their fortune they would be willing to give up to live “10 years longer,” those with $1 million to $2 million were willing to give up a third. Meanwhile, those with more than $50 million were willing to part with almost half their fortune.
However, in the UBS survey, wealthy Americans were more pessimistic about increasing life expectancy. Only about 30% of respondents expected to reach that milestone. They were the group most worried about rising medical costs, but the least willing to adjust their finances to live longer./.