From Lifespan to Wealthspan: How to Avoid Outliving Your Money
Plus: Choosing to Become a Climate Nomad
Welcome to this week’s issue of Further, a newsletter for people in their 50s and 60s looking for a more satisfying alternative to the mythical “golden years” retirement.
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In the last 200 years or so, human lifespan has essentially doubled. That’s an amazing achievement.
There’s a good chance that in the next 10-20 years, we’ll begin to push the envelope on even that heightened average lifespan. The massive amount of investment in longevity science and efforts to defeat the diseases of aging seems closer to paying off every year.
That means that age 50 may well be the average lifetime halfway point. And it’s possible that’s true for people who are 50 right now even without imminent biotechnology breakthroughs.
Of course, lifespan alone isn’t much to get excited about if you’re physically or mentally impaired. We want to live long, healthy lives, and that means healthspan matters more:
Many might agree that “healthspan” can be defined as the period of one’s life that one is healthy. However, being “healthy” means different things to different people. A better definition might include being free from serious disease. A disease is considered to be serious if it is a leading cause of death.
Living a longer, healthier life should be nothing but a blessing. Unfortunately, until society and the job market catch up, it’s instead a source of fear and uncertainty.
Unwilling Subjects in the 401(k) Experiment
That’s why MIT's Joseph Coughlin, author of The Longevity Economy, says young Baby Boomers and all of Gen X are “lab rats” in a grand experiment when it comes to retirement:
Nearly two-thirds of us who joined the workforce in the 1980s, and everyone since then (this means you X’ers, Millennials, and Gen Z), are part of a grand experiment in retirement. The experiment began four decades ago with the disappearance of defined benefit plans, along with the financial certainty they offered, and the birth of promising, but less certain, defined contribution plans, e.g., 401(k)s.
In other words, we’re the pioneers who are staring down retirement without the security of a good ol’ fashioned pension. It’s been up to us to save for retirement and keep our hands off what we’ve saved through the dot-com crash, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other personal financial stressors.
According to Coughlin:
Good news. You are likely to live longer than your parents. Bad news, you don’t know how long and whether your lifespan will outlive your wealthspan.
Coughlin says we’re all in the same boat there, going so far as to call us Generation U (for uncertainty). But there’s another “U” that Coughlin recommends, and that’s unretirement.
It’s more than just working past 65. It’s about starting now to focus on increasing your wealthspan in an intentional way that allows for wealth in your elder years in the way Thoreau meant — the “ability to fully experience life.”
So along with lifespan and healthspan, Coughlin says we’ve got to consider the key points of wealthspan:
First up is meaningful work that fulfills a sense of purpose while generating income. Doing mindless grunt-work just to scrape by is no way to spend your so-called golden years.
Next, can you live wherever you want? Everything from political strife, to the high cost of living, to climate change indicates that you don’t want to find yourself stuck in a location that’s become unfavorable.
Finally, you have to be self-sufficient if you find yourself flying solo. More people than ever are living alone due to gray divorce or a spouse’s early mortality. You’ll need a setup where you can get the help you need when you need it.
The Brief History of Traditional Retirement Is Over
It may feel like we’ve had the rug pulled out from under us just when it’s our turn to retire.
But here’s another perspective. Retirement at age 65 was basically “invented” less than a hundred years ago when the Social Security Act came into being to protect blue collar laborers.
Even then, white collar workers in the 1950s thought the idea of retirement at 65 was ridiculous, despite sitting on lucrative pensions. It took a full-court press from the newly formed AARP and entrepreneurs selling the novel idea of retirement communities to come up with the manufactured concept of a “golden years” retirement.
Think about it that way, and it looks more like that was the experiment that didn’t pan out. Those fat corporate pensions that motivated the marketers haven't been around for 40 years now.
None of the above even takes into account the impact artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics will have on the job market in the remainder of this decade. Things will get weirder from here, so buckle up.
I’m not telling you this to ruin your day. You know what’s up. Just also know that drastic change leads to outsized opportunity, and that’s where your head has to be.
Who knows, the decisions you make today may become what you reflect on when expressing gratitude for the life you got to live from this point on. I’m still bullish on the prospects for us latchkey kids.
Keep going-
P.S. Down below I explore one of Coughlin's primary elements of wealthspan... the ability to live anywhere in the face of climate uncertainty. The question becomes, does it make sense to own real estate when your investment can literally go up in flames?
further: premium
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Check out the overview of what you'll get over the next year for one low fee, and join us!
Course Lessons:
The Marketing Approach That Builds a Successful Digital Business (Coming Thursday)
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Upcoming Webinars:
Tax Strategy for American Expats with me, Brian Clark
Aligning Values with Wealth with Denver Nowicz
"I'd Rather Choose To Be a Nomad Than Be Forced To Become a Climate Refugee"
As my wife and I continue to review real estate options for a new home base outside of the United States, nagging new concerns have become part of the calculation.
Namely, what’s the weather going to look like in 20 years? What are the odds that a climate calamity is going to put us in danger and wipe out our investment?
Real estate has long been promoted as a way to build wealth. And international real estate represents an opportunity to accelerate wealth in a way that is no longer viable in the United States, where, if anything, the housing market is primed for a precipitous fall.
Beyond that, buying property abroad means you’ll always have a place to live. That element of stability can add peace of mind to your midlife adventure.
But in a world increasingly defined by climate instability, does that still make sense?
When "Home" Becomes a Liability
Digital nomadism once seemed primarily about lifestyle preference and work flexibility. But increasingly, it looks like a logical adaptation to our changing world.
As Michael Jensen writes in his recent reflection on nomadic living:
The world is currently enduring unprecedented floods, wildfires, droughts, heat waves, and hurricanes — and the political and cultural instability that results from them.
The evidence surrounds us, both in the media and by direct observation.
Having spent the last 12 years in Boulder, Colorado, I've witnessed how climate reality is reshaping our sense of what security means. From what I now know, I fully expect Boulder to burn to the ground at some point in the future, much as the Palisades Fire near Los Angeles tragically destroyed beloved communities.
Jensen and his partner have been nomads for eight years, initially for philosophical and lifestyle reasons. But their experience shows how climate considerations are becoming central to mobility decisions.
Their account of considering Valencia, Spain as a potential home base, only to see devastating floods strike the region months later, is particularly telling.
“200,000 people were directly impacted, losing homes, cars, and businesses. 232 people died," Jensen reports.
This pattern now repeats with alarming frequency. In addition to recurring disasters involving fire, floods, drought, excessive heat, tornadoes, and hurricanes in the United States, European heat waves have caused tens of thousands of premature deaths.
Climate change is transforming places we once considered safe havens into potential nightmares. And even if you evacuate in time, owning real estate becomes a risky proposition.
The Changing Financial Calculation
Traditional financial advice positions home ownership as the cornerstone of wealth building. But what happens when your investment literally goes up in flames?
The truth is, climate change challenges basic assumptions about property value. When Jensen asks, "Does it still make sense to buy a home, especially at today's possibly over-inflated prices?" he's questioning more than just market timing.
He's examining a fundamental premise about financial security. Consider the real stakes:
But what if you own an expensive home? Most of your net worth could be tied up in an investment that might decline in value — or disappear entirely.
For those of us who've embraced location independence, this reality shifts from philosophical to practical. Being able to pick up and move has become more than a lifestyle choice — it's also about risk management.
Fellow nomad Julia Taylor captures this perfectly in Jensen's article when she says:
More and more, I appreciate my ability to pack up and move quickly if needed for weather and economic issues or political and social unrest. These are the times we're living in now.
Choosing Nomadism Before It Chooses You
There’s an unpleasant new reality at play. Climate change means everyone will likely need greater mobility in the coming decades.
The World Health Organization already estimates nearly half a million people worldwide die yearly from heat-related causes, which is the largest source of death from natural disasters. Rising temperatures may soon make large portions of the planet functionally uninhabitable.
That means many people will become climate refugees rather than climate nomads. Millions will be forced to flee rather than enjoying the privilege of choosing strategic mobility.
I've built my career on location independence since 2006, establishing systems and marketing methods that allow work to continue regardless of location. This wasn't motivated by climate concerns initially, but the flexibility now provides security that traditional lifestyles increasingly cannot.
This doesn't mean nomadism is for everyone. As Jensen acknowledges:
Nomading is not clearly practical, possible, or even desirable for everyone. And obviously, everyone still needs a place to live.
But the calculation has changed. Traditional stability through property ownership now carries significant climate risk that many haven't factored into their long-term planning.
Adaptation As Opportunity
The question isn't whether climate change is among several modern issues that will force adaptation — it will. The question is whether you adapt reactively or proactively.
When nomad Wendy Sewell tells Jensen, "We left [California in 2020] because of fires. We had to evacuate twice before then, and it was terrifying. It's what launched us on our nomadic journey," she's describing a climate-driven decision that proved prescient.
Just three days after leaving, another fire would have forced them to evacuate again.
Meanwhile, supposedly "safer" areas increasingly show vulnerability. Seattle now endures an annual "smoke season." Tampa faces intensifying hurricanes. The idea of climate-haven cities may prove illusory.
When you look at it this way, now you know why Trump wants Canada and Greenland. Despite pretending to be a climate change denier, he knows that incredibly valuable shipping routes are opening up as the Arctic ice melts. And it also means previously unlivable real estate will become much more attractive.
The mindset shift from viewing nomadism as simply a lifestyle choice to viewing it as a climate-adaptation strategy represents an important evolution. And a location-independent income shifts from “nice to have” to mission critical.
The world is changing whether we like it or not. And as Jensen puts it in his sobering conclusion:
"I'd rather choose to be a climate nomad than be forced to become a climate refugee."
That choice — making proactive decisions rather than reactive ones — may be the most valuable asset in an increasingly unpredictable world.
further: flashback
🎶 Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A., Born in the U.S.A., 1984 🎶
There are people who listen to the lyrics, and those who don't often think Born in the U.S.A. celebrates America. One of those people was Ronald Reagan in 1984, who said that Springsteen's songs were "a message of hope." Bruce responded by saying, "I don't think he's actually listening." (YouTube)
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