How long will you live?

I think longevity calculators are a lot of fun, and a story in Healthy Living this Sunday reports on one provided by Northwestern Mutual, an insurance and investment company. The company wants you to understand the factors that can cut short or extend your life, and it also wants you to thinik about what you need to do (i.e., perhaps buy long-term care insurance or an investment product) to prepare for a hopefully long life.

You can read the story Sunday, but I’ll give you the goods now — the link to the online calculator: media.nmfn.com/tnetwork/lifespan.

The calculator predicts I’ll live to 92! (I’m going to ignore the stack of stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on my desk that tells me about the diseases, accidents and acts of violence that can cut life short.)

After using the calculator, my sense of what’s important, health-wise, has been reaffirmed: Eat well, exercise, get regular check-ups, maintain healthy blood pressure, don’t smoke, don’t use drugs recreationally, wear your seatbelt, drive safely and keep stress from overwhelming you. According to the calculator, being stressed can shave a year off your life!

Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/inmoderation/2011/04/01/how-long-will-you-live/