Living to 123

First, for context, I really believed that I was going to die by age 35. It was kinda a weird series of premonitions that I took too literally, and if you want more details I spoke about it once on a podcast (still looking for link, sorry. will post soon!)

Anyway, it turns out by age 36, 37, 38…and now 48, that I’m still here. Bonus! So…now what?

Well after a fair bit of research, I’ve decided to set my longevity sights on age 123. There are a few big health hurdles to clear to get there, but I’m tackling and mitigating those risks as best I can (see below). While age 123 sounds unrealistically ambitious to many today because no one we know of has lived that long yet, I believe that by the time I get there, it won’t be uncommon at all.

My Great-Grandmother lived to 106 and passed in 2005. With all the miracles of modern science we’ve already had since then, plus those we will have in the rest of this century, an extra 17 years doesn’t seem far-fetched at all to me. It’s entirely possible that age 123 will go by just like age 35 did.

But it helps to start with a goal, even if arbitrary, so that’s where I’m starting. Why did I pick 123? Ultimately, because comic books. Who says you have to get older and mature at the same time?

Now I’ve spent a fair bit of time around old people. I am actively engaged in elder care now, and have made major life decisions around providing it in the past. I’ve also spent a fair bit of time around dying people, both old and young. I’ve seen death up close and personal, and unfortunately lost several close friends already.

Here’s the thing healthy people tend to forget about the old and the dying: they are not the same thing!

We tend to conflate the concepts of “old” and “dying” but they are really quite different ideas. Old is an judgement about how long someone has been around (usually more how much wear and tear we can see on them), while dying is a projection about how long someone has left.

No one knows the future. We like to pretend we know, but nobody can say what will happen.

My Mother-in-Law was given 3 months to live over 18 months ago, and in recent months has been becoming stronger and healthier than she’s been in years. In 2001, I met someone at a dinner who’d been HIV+ for 18 years and was inexplicably still going strong and looking great. My Grandfather was told he would die of Lupus in 1968 and loved to brag how he told that doctor to go screw himself and proceeded to outlive him and stay alive and well until 2015. I’m sure you have some stories like this in your life, right?

And a week after attending my 40th birthday party, my best friend was in a horrible motorcycle accident. And after becoming the pinnacle of health, but then getting a fever while living alone, a good buddy of mine from high school collapsed in his hallway and died. And after giving my Mom an estimate of “days to weeks” of survival after her sudden and unexpected stroke, she was gone in less than 2 hours. I’m sure you have stories like this too.

Point is, nobody knows. Really.

So when faced with ambiguity and inconsistency and unknowable things like this, what then do you choose to do? I find it’s good to focus on the belief about the future that feels the best in the present. I probably won’t make it to 123 if I don’t believe I can, but whether I do or not, it feels good to believe this now.

More importantly, it changes the way I think.

Here are a few things I’m thinking differently about:

Friends

Is it worth living once you’ve buried all your best friends? From what I’ve seen, yes it is. If we live well. This involves spending a little time thinking though what that means in a very literal and practical sense.

Family

What family will be around by the time I’m 120? I need to build those relationships too. And like many couples these days, we have no kids, so there’s no implicit passing of the buck here. I am planning in advance for the burden I may eventually become, so my family doesn’t have to.

Finances

What does retirement look like when you spend less than half of your life working? Well, run the financial models and you’ll find that it…flat out doesn’t work. Also, being that the Social Security Board of Trustees has been very clear about Social Security going bankrupt within the next 10 years, I’m not assuming any benefits ever in my lifetime. So I get to working and saving differently.

Failing to Die

Avoiding the things that kill you is important if you want to live a long time. Here are five things I’m looking at preventing:

1. Heart attacks & cardiovascular disease
2. Cancer
3. Stroke
4. Neurodegenerative disease
5. Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Why these? Because 80% of deaths for people over 40 come from one or more of these five things. Also, all of the above run in one side of my family or the other, or both. Your unique disease prevention objectives may differ. Yes, that still leaves a 20% risk of death by “other”, but those are much better odds.

Mobility

Then there is the less obvious but very real physical issue of falling. It can change everything for someone. My Great-Grandma lived by herself until she was 99, when she fell and broke a hip. After that she was mostly wheelchair bound and not nearly as independent. Her quality of life didn’t go to zero by any means, it did trend down after that. Perhaps you have an example of someone like this in your own life.

Vision & Hearing

Based on my family history, I’m assuming that no matter what I do my vision & hearing will continue to deteriorate substantially over the next 40 years or so. As this fails, it can disconnect someone from the world around them. It’s critically important, yes, though I’m not too focused on this due to ongoing advances in medicine. I just need to budget for these medical interventions well in advance.

Interventions

So what am I doing? Plenty. Here are the top 3 for you:

1. Keeping Diet Defaults = For me that means going vegan, organic, low sugar, low processed foods – as I have been since 2020. No, I don’t eat this way every single day of my life. But leave me to my own devices, and this is what I do. Not only do I feel better, but I actually spend less money, eat more of what I grow myself, and most importantly instantly reduce my likelihood of all top 5 most likely ways to die.
2. Intentional movement daily = I’ve been doing my Tai Chi exercises most every day since 1997, and plan to keep on doing those along with some yoga stretches I picked up since then. More recently, I started doing the Fitness 50 exercises, and plan to keep up too. One of the great things about movement is that it costs nothing but a little time each day.
3. Set leading indicators = From what I understand, grip strength is a surprisingly good mobility indicator, so I’m keeping track of that. Weight is a lagging indicator and doesn’t tell you much, so I’m less focused on stuff like that, and more concerned with DEXA numbers, for instance. It’s fairly inexpensive to get scans like this once a year ($50 where I live).

Longevity links

If you find any of this interesting and want to explore more yourself, here are some good places to get started:

• Blue Zones = Epidemiological lessons from the world’s hotspots of long life. Checking out the new Netflix series is probably the easiest passive exploration.
• Peter Diamandis Longevity Guide = Free website/ebook condensing some of the best and most current scientific info from his perspective.
• Blueprint Protocol = Bryan Johnson is the most measured man in history, and his “Don’t Die” philosophy extends well beyond just living to 123. A little sensational and controversial at times, but great to expand thinking
• Longevity Foundation = If you’re more into the science end of things, check out this foundation, and also the Buck Center for Aging.

Got some thoughts to share with me? I want to hear it!