Thoughts on Aging

Having just attended funeral services for an extended family member who live to be 99 years old, it's natural to have thoughts and discussions about aging and whether we can see ourselves reaching such a great age.  Considering I have friends who are having a hard time with "retirement", realistically thinking about living another 30-some years after retiring at 65 or 67 is a bit boggling.

There is the financial end of it, of course.  But even more difficult is pondering is just what ARE you going to be doing with yourself for so long?  Staying healthy is definitely a factor, so you are able to enjoy whatever it is that you DO decide to do.  Retiring is an entirely different animal than when our grandparents retired, when they could maybe anticipate another 10 - 15 years.  We are potentially looking at double that.

The following article about the likelihood of reaching 100 is helpful, if you like to play with statistics.  Personally, I'm just more committed to remaining healthy, nurturing my curiosity about many things, and continuing to explore a wide variety of art and crafts.  I can't quite yet embrace doing only jigsaw puzzles for decades, assuming my eyesight lasts, of course.

                                                                       

How likely are you to live to 100? Get the full data

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/aug/04/live-to-100-likely

We're all living longer. But how many of us will live to 100?

The Department for Work and Pensions have released a report detailing life expectancy in 2011 and comparing the generations at 20, 50 and 80 years old. The data sees 20-year-olds three times more likely to reach 100 than their grandparents, and twice as likely as their parents.

While a girl born in 2011 has a one-in-three chance of living to their 100th birthday, a boy has a one-in-four chance. However, compared to a baby born in 1931, the children of 2011 are almost eight times more likely to become centenarians.

The predictions by the Office for National Statistics estimate the likelihood of reaching 100 by looking either at your age now or the year of your birth. They show that by 2066, there will be more than half a million people in the UK aged 100 or over.

The phenomenon of Britain's ageing population will impact on everything from pensions to the national health service. Pensions Minister Steve Webb says:

the dramatic speed at which life expectancy is changing means that we need to radically rethink our perceptions about our later lives … We simply can't look to our grandparents' experience of retirement as a model for our own. We will live longer and we will have to save more

So, what does it mean? Key figures from the data, show:

• The average chance of a 20-year-old to reach 100 is 23%; however women aged 20 have a 26.6% chance - heavily contrasting with the male 19.5%
• Those aged 50 in 2011 have a 14.2% chance of seeing the year 2061 (17% of women, 11.4% of men)
• A further ten years reduces your chances by 2.2%, and by the time they reach 70 the average Briton will be at 10.4%
• Those aged 83-84 now have lowest likelihood of reaching 100 of any age group - 7.2%. Beyond this percentages begin to look up, with a 99-year-old having a 67.% chance of making it through to their 100th birthday

We've extracted the data from the DWP for you to play with. What can you do with it?

Data summary

Likelihood of reaching 100

Year of birth	Male, %	Female, %	BOTH SEXES, %
1912	0.3	1.1	0.7
1913	0.3	1.1	0.7
1914	0.3	1.2	0.7
1915	0.3	1.2	0.8
1916	0.4	1.3	0.8
1917	0.4	1.4	0.9
1918	0.5	1.6	1.1
1919	0.7	1.9	1.3
1920	0.6	1.8	1.2
1921	0.7	2.1	1.4
1922	0.8	2.3	1.6
1923	1	2.5	1.7
1924	1.1	2.7	1.9
1925	1.2	3	2.1
1926	1.4	3.2	2.3
1927	1.6	3.5	2.5
1928	1.7	3.8	2.8
1929	2	4.2	3.1
1930	2.3	4.6	3.4
1931	2.5	5.1	3.8
1932	2.9	5.6	4.2
1933	3.2	6.2	4.7
1934	3.6	6.8	5.2
1935	4	7.3	5.6
1936	4.3	7.9	6.1
1937	4.6	8.4	6.5
1938	5	8.9	6.9
1939	5.2	9.3	7.2
1940	5.4	9.6	7.5
1941	5.7	9.9	7.8
1942	6	10.3	8.1
1943	6.2	10.6	8.4
1944	6.4	10.9	8.6
1945	6.6	11.1	8.9
1946	6.9	11.5	9.2
1947	7.1	11.8	9.5
1948	7.4	12.2	9.8
1949	7.7	12.5	10.1
1950	7.9	12.8	10.4
1951	8.2	13.1	10.6
1952	8.4	13.5	10.9
1953	8.6	13.7	11.2
1954	8.8	14	11.4
1955	9.1	14.4	11.7
1956	9.3	14.7	12
1957	9.5	14.9	12.2
1958	9.8	15.2	12.5
1959	10	15.6	12.8
1960	10.2	15.9	13.1
1961	10.5	16.2	13.3
1962	10.7	16.5	13.6
1963	11	16.8	13.9
1964	11.2	17.1	14.2
1965	11.5	17.4	14.5
1966	11.8	17.7	14.7
1967	12	18.1	15
1968	12.3	18.4	15.3
1969	12.5	18.7	15.6
1970	12.8	19	15.9
1971	13.1	19.4	16.2
1972	13.3	19.7	16.5
1973	13.6	20	16.8
1974	13.9	20.4	17.1
1975	14.2	20.7	17.4
1976	14.5	21.1	17.8
1977	14.8	21.4	18.1
1978	15.1	21.7	18.4
1979	15.4	22.1	18.7
1980	15.7	22.4	19.1
1981	16	22.8	19.4
1982	16.3	23.1	19.7
1983	16.6	23.5	20.1
1984	17	23.8	20.4
1985	17.3	24.2	20.7
1986	17.6	24.5	21.1
1987	17.9	24.9	21.4
1988	18.2	25.3	21.7
1989	18.5	25.6	22.1
1990	18.9	26	22.4
1991	19.2	26.4	22.8
1992	19.5	26.7	23.1
1993	19.9	27.1	23.5
1994	20.2	27.5	23.8
1995	20.5	27.8	24.2
1996	20.9	28.2	24.5
1997	21.2	28.5	24.9
1998	21.5	28.9	25.2
1999	21.9	29.3	25.6
2000	22.2	29.6	25.9
2001	22.6	30	26.3
2002	22.9	30.4	26.6
2003	23.2	30.7	27
2004	23.6	31.1	27.3
2005	23.9	31.5	27.7
2006	24.3	31.8	28.1
2007	24.6	32.2	28.4
2008	25	32.6	28.8
2009	25.3	32.9	29.1
2010	25.7	33.3	29.5
2011	26	33.7	29.9

Basket Classes on Lopez

While we have already had one basket class here at my Lopez Studio for the textile guild, the first basket class open to everyone was held this last Saturday:  "Simple Lattice".  The baskets didn't quite get finished, due to our limited time together.  But I was very pleased with the class, and the students seemed to be as well.  Weaving, chatting, sharing -  it really is what basket weaving is all about!

Our next formal adventure into lattice twining will be "Spearmint" on Saturday, December 13th, and we're hoping that a few more adventurous souls will join us.

 Scheduling classes in November and December is always challenging, but we are planning to meet at least one more time before the next class to finish up the first baskets.

My dream of teaching on the island has started!

Feeling Productive

Finishing future class projects and getting proposals all ready has taken up my week, but give  me permission to go to the city and have dinner and a movie with my darling daughter.  All in keeping with my word of "Balance"!