Editor’s note: This story was originally published here boldin.
The conversation about aging has changed. Scientists in the field, backed by billions of private funding, are now beginning the first human safety trials of treatments aimed at Rejuvenate aging cells.
Gerontologist Ken Dichtwald recently wrote Luck We are living through a “longevity revolution,” given that “our systems, products, and mindsets are still built for a short-lived world,” even as millions of Americans can now expect to reach their 80s, 90s, and beyond.
The question to ask, before it becomes necessary, is whether your plan is designed for how long your retirement will last.
A Pew Research Center survey Nearly three-quarters of the 9,000 American adults want to reach at least 80, and nearly three in 100 aim for 100. Yet four in 10 adults under 65 say they aren’t confident their money will last in retirement, or don’t think they’ll be able to retire at all.
It’s the gap between the life people are expecting and the life they’re planning that accumulates the most retirement risk. Weighing that distance may feel uncomfortable, but what most people find is that they have more options than they expected.
Americans want to live to be 91. Most retirement plans don’t account for this.
The average American wants to live to age 91, according to Pew Research. American life expectancy at birth recently reached 79 years, according to CDCWhich means there’s a 12-year gap between what people are listening to and the life they’re expecting.
The average target for men is 93; For women, it is 88. Black adults have the highest average goal age of 95 among racial and ethnic groups, with nearly three in 10 Americans wanting to reach it. 100.
| Group | Average target lifetime (years) |
|---|---|
| all american adults | 91 |
| men | 93 |
| women | 88 |
| black adult | 95 |
| white adult | 91 |
| hispanic adult | 89 |
| asian adult | 85 |
Source: Pew Research Center, based on a September 2025 survey of 8,750 U.S. adults, “On average, Americans expect to live to age 91.”
These preferences reflect changes in the way people think about aging. Today, someone who retires at age 65 can expect to live another 20 to 30 years, and the science of aging is advancing so rapidly that these projections will keep moving upward.
Whether or not science delivers its full promise in your lifetime, it’s worth asking: How long will your retirement last?
When you reach 65, your life expectancy increases by seven years
Today, a 65-year-old man in America can expect to live to about 85, according to CDCThat’s about six to seven years more than the life expectancy at birth of 79. That’s because reaching age 65 means you’ve already avoided the causes of early death that drag down birth averages: accidents, congenital conditions and complications that disproportionately affect younger populations.
| milestone | Life expectancy figure (years) | planning implications |
|---|---|---|
| at birth (US population) | 79 | The baseline number is what most people hear; Averaged over the entire population, including early deaths. |
| At the age of 65 (currently retired) | about 85 | A typical 65-year-old should plan for retirement for at least 20 years. |
| Expected Lifespan (Average Adult) | 91 | Many plans should model a window of 65 to 25-30 years, not just 15-20 years. |
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Mortality in the United States, 2024”; Pew Research Center, “On average, Americans expect to live to age 91”.
The realistic planning level for retirement starting at 65 is not 79. This is 85. Even before taking into account the fact that the average American is looking forward to 26 years, that’s 20 years of retirement.
The difference comes down to how much money you need, what the withdrawal rate is and how much of a buffer you are creating between your plan and its outer edge.
How long does retirement last? For most people, 20 to 30 years.
Retirement, starting at age 65, generally lasts for 20 to 30 years. This is longer than most planning guidelines, and also higher than the life expectancy figure of 79. A 15-year retirement and a 25-year retirement don’t just differ in length. Four variables change the mathematics in ways that become complex over time:
- Withdrawal Rate: The rate which is maintained for 20 years may not be maintained for 26 years also. In the end mathematics becomes unfeasible. Check how your current rate holds up in Year 25 and Year 30, not just Year 20, where most stress-testing scenarios stop.
- Healthcare Inflation: Costs that grow over two decades behave differently from costs that grow over three decades. The planning question is whether your health care budget is for a 30-year or 20-year window.
- Social Security Timings: The case for delay becomes stronger the longer your horizon, because you have more years to collect the higher payments. If you’re expecting to reach 91, run the breakeven calculation against that age instead of the actuarial average.
- Portfolio Strategy: How you manage risk at age 80 looks different from how you manage it at age 70, and a long retirement requires a plan that takes both into account. A portfolio sized for 20 years may have lower equity exposure than a portfolio sized for 30 years.
Most retirement guidelines were created with a 30-year limit in mind, but people plan toward the middle and assume longer scenarios won’t apply to them. Anyone hoping to reach 91 should plan for the long scenario.
You want a plan that will last whether you live to be 85 or 97.
4 in 10 Americans under 65 don’t think their money will last in retirement
Financial worries are the second most common aging concern after health among adults under 65. Pew Research. Four in 10 say they are not confident they will have enough income and assets by retirement, or believe they will not be able to retire at all. Among adults in their early 60s, about one-quarter say the same.
The concerns go back to specific things: Social Security’s long-term funding uncertainty, rising health care and living costs, and the difficulty of projecting expenses over more than two decades. None of these concerns are unreasonable. They respond to planning: clear projections, adjustments in savings rates and withdrawal strategy, a well-thought-out approach to Social Security.
Having vague financial concerns is different from working with real numbers. Uncertainty is reduced when you have specific numbers instead of estimates.
Higher-income adults are 3 times more confident that their savings will last into retirement
According to Pew Research, older adults with higher incomes are three times more likely to believe that their savings will last into retirement than those with lower incomes. Six in 10 high-income adults ages 65 and older say they are aging very well or very well. Among low-income older adults, 39% say the same.
| result range | Low-Income Older Adults (65+) | Higher Income Older Adults (65+) |
|---|---|---|
| Confidence savings will last until retirement | ground line; significantly less likely to feel overly confident | Almost 3 times more likely to feel overly confident |
| Rate their overall aging as “extremely” or “very” well | 39% | 61% |
| Rate their physical health as excellent or very good | 26% | 49% |
| rate their mental health as excellent or very good | 45% | 73% |
Source: Pew Research Center, “Aging Well: How Income and Health Shape the Experiences of Older Americans” (Survey of US Adults Age 65 and Older, 2025).
The income gap runs deeper than financial confidence. Higher-income older adults are nearly twice as likely to rate their physical health as excellent or very good (49% vs. 26%), and far more likely to rate their mental health as good (73% vs. 45%). They remain more socially active and report less cognitive decline.
Financial security buys options: better health care access, less chronic stress, more control over how you spend your days. These benefits add up to a longer retirement.
The people who understand it best are the people who have lived it. When Pew asked adults ages 65 and older what advice they would give to younger people, 37% said save more, invest and live within your means. It was second only to health-related advice and ahead of everything else on the list. In fact, the respondents were talking to their youth. The message is that financial preparation is not a sacrifice. This is what finances your later life.
Financial security is a part of aging that you can plan for.
Pew Research found that most Americans feel limited control over their aging. Less than half believe that people have meaningful control over their mental acuity. Only 38% think they can influence how old they look. Physical health gets more credit; 67% say that people have some control there, but it also has limits.
Financial preparation is different. The decisions you make about savings rates, withdrawal strategy, Social Security timing, and how you model health care costs in your 50s and early 60s shape your options 20 to 30 years from retirement.
That’s a long runway. The adjustments you make now have real consequences later, and the gap between where you are and where you want to be can almost always be closed. A useful starting point is to check whether your current plan uses a 20-year or 30-year horizon, and then seeing what changes between those two scenarios.
If you want to see what your retirement looks like in different longevity scenarios, boldin planner Lets you tailor your plan to a specific age using your personal income, savings, Social Security timing and expense projections.