Living a Longer, Fulfilling Life?

The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article on May 31 about longevity and how to have a fulfilling life with those extra years of living.   How to Make the Most of Longer Lives focuses not just on planning financially for living longer, but questions what to do with those added years to be sure one has a  meaningful life. The author suggests “[w]e need to marshal imagination and ingenuity to devise new strategies for enhancing the whole range of experiences in later life, including education, faith, housing, work, finance and community” and then offers six suggestions to increase the quality of life: (1) give a new name to this period of life; (2) smooth the way to transition into this part of life (or as the author explains it retirement and then “un-retirement” is “a do-it-yourself process. It’s time to help make this post-midlife passage more efficient and suited to preparing individuals emotionally and spiritually for what lies ahead.”); (3) education specifically for the second half of life (4) financial security; (5) promote multi-generational housing; (6) create a model where inventors brainstorm new ideas for this part of life.

The author concludes with reference to the upcoming White House Conference on Aging and the challenges that await all of us with aging.