MW Living to 100 is becoming a reality. Can you afford it?

By Richard Eisenberg

The odds of becoming a centenarian are growing - how to plan for the possibility

Mel Brooks speaks at a screening of "Spaceballs" in 2024. He will turn 100 in 2026.

Dick Van Dyke is kicking his heels about turning 100 in December. Mel Brooks, 99, has a "Spaceballs" sequel coming in 2027 and is producing a "Very Young Frankenstein" pilot for FX. When Warren Buffett steps down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway in December, he'll be eight months shy of turning 96.

The notion - and for some, the reality - of living to 100 is getting increasing attention these days from longevity researchers, authors, financial advisory firms and people in their second half of life. Many experts are drawing particular scrutiny into the financial and lifestyle implications that come with aging into your ninth or 10th decade and I've recently talked with a number of them for their insights and advice.

The importance of planning for the possibility of living to 100 has never been greater. Although the average American lifespan is now around 79, the chances of reaching 100 have grown dramatically in the past decades.

New research says 48% of boomers and Generation X think they could live to 100, too, though they're trepidatious - especially financially. Just 44% of boomers and 48% of Gen Xers want to live to 100, according to Corebridge Financial and The Longevity Project.

"I think there are enough role models out there that people say, 'Sure, I get the risk of longevity, but I also see some of the upside,'" says Ken Stern, author of the new book, "Healthy to 100," and chair of The Longevity Project, which collaborates with the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Living to 100: The reality

Living to 100 is somewhat aspirational, Stern says. "I'm sure that for a lot of us, including me, there are still the concerns about what those last years might be like."

Gen Xers - ages 45 to 60 - are especially nervous about the financial side of longevity. In "Retirement Bites," a new book to help this generation secure their financial future, authors Kerry Hannon and Janna Herron write that Gen Xers in particular are worried about making their money last.

Only 41% of Gen Xers are on track for retirement, according to the Vanguard Retirement Outlook. Corebridge Financial found 72% of Gen Xers feared running out of money due to longevity, compared with 53% of boomers. Federal changes to address Social Security's solvency are more likely to pinch Gen Xers than boomers, says Bryan Pinsky, president of Individual Retirement and Life Insurance at Corebridge Financial.

In 1950, there were just 2,300 centenarians in the U.S. In 1990, 37,000. In 2000, 50,000. Today, there are an estimated 101,000. By 2054, just 29 years from now, there'll be 422,000 (those people are 71 now), according to U.S. Census Bureau projections.

The problem is, we're not doing a very good job preparing for our longer lives or even acknowledging them.

A new John Hancock and MIT AgeLab Longevity Preparedness Index, based on a survey of over 1,300 adults in eight areas such as finance, home, health and care, researchers graded the public a "D," with a score of 60 out of 100. The finance score wasn't much better - just 64.

Read: Why America gets a 'D' grade when it comes to retirement

The 2025 MassMutual Health & Wealth Habits Report says 64% of Americans feel they need to consider financial options to support their needs in old age, but only 20% have done so.

Yet many people believe they're on strong financial footing for longevity.

In Corebridge Financial's survey, 61% said they thought their plan for financial well-being (preparing for the expected and unexpected) would let them live to 100. "I think there's probably a little bit of over-optimism there," says Pinsky.

The longevity disconnect

Corebridge Financial found a huge disconnect between Americans' longevity expectations and their retirement expectations. Eighty percent of non-retired people surveyed expect to retire by age 69; 39% by 64. Yet 50% are only planning for 20 years in retirement or less - about 30 to 35 years fewer than if they live to 100.

"The disconnect that we find a little bit concerning is that people are saying they want to generally retire in their 60s and they want to live to 100, which would give them three to four decades of retirement," says Pinsky. "It's hard for people to visualize 30, 40 years into the future."

I confess the notion of living to 100 is hard for me. If I live that long (my dad died at 94), my 2-year-old granddaughter would, amazingly, be 33, and my sons who are now in their 30s would be eligible for both Social Security and Medicare.

Making my money last that long worries me, too. In my father's last years, I frequently lost sleep about the possibility that he might outlive his money.

In her new book, "My Mother's Money: A Guide to Financial Caregiving," MarketWatch's Beth Pinsker shares similar concerns about her mom's finances. "She had her savings, which were being depleted. So, we were staring at the idea of spending her principal, and we'd keep going until it was all gone," Pinsker writes.

How people live long and healthy lives elsewhere

For his "Healthy to 100" book, Stern wanted to learn how people in five countries where residents live the longest, healthiest lives (Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Spain and Italy) did it and what we can learn from them. After all, staying healthy as you age keeps expenses down and improves your financial security.

Over the first half of 2024, Stern traveled to the five nations. Although he didn't delve into the personal finances of the elders, he noticed many kept working long into their later lives, especially in Japan, where the average life expectancy is about six years longer than in the U.S.

"Companies have come to the realization in Japan that they need older workers and have started to create work policies that favor them," Stern says. "Much more part-time work, job sharing, assistive technology and emphasis on remote work. In a country known for a highly competitive work environment, they've essentially created a second work environment that is considered more suitable for older workers," Stern adds.

In Japan, Stern says, "there's a cultural consensus that work is really valuable to older adults as they age; it's a source of social connection, purpose and meaning, and that's as critical to your health as anything else."

The Japanese government and employers, Stern writes, help make late-life employment a reality through a program called Silver Jinzai, which creates part-time jobs for older Japanese adults. Nearly 700,000 people aged 60 to nearly 100 have registered for Silver Jinzai. Most are 70+; 15% are 80 and older, Stern notes.

U.S. companies and the federal government haven't come to grips with Americans' longer lives, Stern says.

A few businesses are starting to, though, says Jodi Waterhouse, leader of the University of Anschutz Multidisciplinary Center on Aging. "A new role we will see is Chief Longevity Officer," Waterhouse said at the University of Maine Center on Aging's colloquium, "Work & Wellness for Older Adults." L'Oréal already has one.

Until more U.S. companies and the government acknowledge the longevity trend and become more intentional in helping Americans work later in life, older Americans need to take steps to live financially secure, longer lives.

How to avoid outliving your money

The best way to address the money side of longevity is to create a plan. "That plan should be: 'How do I have enough lifetime income that I know regardless of how long I live, that I've got a paycheck coming in until I pass away?'" says Pinsky.

A financial adviser can help you map out a longevity income plan to make your money last and manage expenses as you age. But only 27% of Gen Xers currently work with an adviser; 37% of boomers do, according to the Schroders 2024 U.S. Retirement Survey.

If you're lucky, you have one or more employer pensions that produce a steady stream of income every month. However, access to a pension plan has fallen to less than 25% and continues to decline, Corebridge Financial reports.

Social Security offers lifetime income, too. If you can afford delaying claiming past your Full Retirement Age (now 67 for people born in 1960 or later), you'll get an 8% bigger benefit for each year until age 70.

A single-premium immediate annuity sold by insurers and brokerage firms - where you hand over a lump of money and the company invests it - can also provide monthly lifetime income. A 65-year-old man purchasing a $100,000 fixed annuity might receive about $685 monthly according to ImmediateAnnuities.com.

One downside to annuities: inflation. By locking in a set amount of monthly income, the payout won't rise if inflation does.

Working part time in retirement, if you're healthy enough and can find employers who'll pay you, can also help avoid outliving your money. Vanguard estimates that working until 67 would lead to a 13-percentage point increase in the proportion of Americans on track for retirement, from 42% to 55%.

Something else that could help: If financial-services firms talked less about longevity risk and more about longevity opportunities. By shining a light on how to remain productive and make your money work harder as you age, we might do a better job preparing for the chance that we'll live to 100.

-Richard Eisenberg

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November 19, 2025 13:55 ET (18:55 GMT)

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