Longevity

The Wall Street Journal reports that a recent study shows that Rapamycin is the first chemical to increase the longevity of mammals. Rapamycin was shown to increase the longevity in mice by 9% - 14%. In a related study on aging to be published in Science magazine, researchers show that sharply reduced calorie intake increased the lifespan of monkeys significantly. Source: Wall Street Journal (subscription required) Full Story

Chairman of the Dole Food Company David Murdock is writing a series of pieces on the Huffington Post about the relationship between nutrition and longevity. Murdock's plans to write ten posts that are devoted to entirely to "all the areas crucial to longevity." These include other foods that should be included in a longevity diet - such as nuts, fish, beans, grains and fresh juices. I'll talk about the necessary importance of brain fitness as you age, and how you can keep the brain fit along...

The financial crisis has had an enormous impact on the financial plans of millions of people around the world. The savings of millions of retirees and near retirees have taken a huge hit at the worst possible time. This message has become fairly ubiquitous in the financial media. However, the message that has not been as clear involves longevity risk . The reality is that average lifespans are headed in the opposite direction from the levels of saving required to fund those golden years...

The picture for near and current retirees has changed 180 degrees in the past couple of years. Questions such as where to retire and what do do during retirement are replaced with whether to retire and how to make sure one does not run out of money during retirement. Working longer, waiting to draw on Social Security , and understanding longevity risk are front and center for the vast majority of retirees. Decumulation or drawing sustainable income from accumulated financial assets is one of...