Are People Living Longer?

Hundreds of news articles, statistical reports and plain old observation advises us that people are having to work longer than in prior generations. Is this a fact that people are living longer, therefore the concern for outliving one’s retirement income forces this affect? Or is it a government conspiracy given the miscalculations and actuarial mistakes regarding social security? The government, of course, has pressing reasons to keep people working and contributing via income tax. As Baby Boomers begin their retirements, the lesser populated generations behind the Boomers will have to support them. So the longer the government can keep seniors on payrolls as opposed to social security retirement rolls, the better the system will be.

We have not heard anyone really taking this conspiracy theory seriously, but the fun we were having conjuring it up was in an effort to make this point that in general, people are facing the cold hard facts that they will need to work longer than the generation ahead of them did. This means that financial security and income protection need to be considered for this aging group.

Disability insurance carriers are beginning to recognize this fact, and some insurers are announcing new higher issue ages for their programs. The question is, are these going far enough? Petersen International Underwriters has been insuring “senior aged income earners” for more than 30 years. This is because we recognized this need long before it was brought to the attention of all. The fact is this is not a new phenomenon, but rather one of evolution since indeed modern medicine continues to improve mortality, but often times at the sake of increased morbidity.

For advisors who have clients who are over the age of 65 and still working, we have answers. Should they be protecting their income? Arguably perhaps, even more so than the younger working class. We are here to help you with disability programs which can be issued to working people in their 60’s and 70’s.