Noel Whittaker is the author of Wills, Death & Taxes Made Simple and numerous other books on personal finance. Email: [email protected]

Life expectancy is back in the news, with recent revelations that Australians’ life expectancy has fallen for the second year in a row, thanks to COVID-19. Well, of course, bad news makes good headlines, but do you need to be worried? Not at all. Life expectancy tables are just a snapshot of the population as a whole and have nothing to do with individuals. And, like the property market, it varies from region to region. For example, life expectancy in North Britain is six years less than life expectancy in the South – all because of lifestyle.



Of course, getting an idea of how long you might live is important when you're deciding how much money you will need when you retire. But the biggest factor in how long a person lives is really how they live – that’s the good news! Keep in mind that you should treat any projected life expectancy figures with healthy scepticism – how can anybody accurately forecast what medical breakthroughs will occur over the next 100 years?



Not long ago, National Geographic featured a striking headline: ‘This Baby Might Live To 120,’ highlighting medical breakthroughs extending human life spans. One notable aspect was a genetic disorder that stunts growth, but also shields against cancer and diabetes. Isolating this gene could mean breakthroughs in preventing these diseases altogether.

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