How long will you live? No one can know that with absolute certainty. However, there are several factors that can be taken into account that will give someone a rough estimate of how much longer they are likely to live. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance has an online Lifespan Calculator that you can use, if you are curious about the answer to that important question.
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance has several online calculators that are useful to help a person make financial decisions, or to have a good idea of how possible something will be for them to be able to afford. Three of these calculators have something to do with planning for college. One helps you figure out what it will take for you to save up for college, another determines the value of higher education, and the third gives you ideas about what investments you can use to help you save for college.
Their website also has calculators that can help you figure out budget related questions. Should you pay off a debt, or use the money to invest in savings? How much are you really spending? How much should you put aside to be used in the case of an emergency? There are calculators to help you make decisions about investment options, retirement planning, savings, and more.
Several of these calculators involve insurance related topics. Of this group, the most interesting is the Lifespan Calculator. Who hasn’t wondered about how long he or she will live? The purpose of this calculator is to help you figure out if you will need life insurance, or long term care insurance.
The lifespan calculator asks you several questions. The first wants to know your age and gender. It says the best predictor of how long you will live comes from knowing how long you have already lived. It points out that statistically, women tend to live longer than men. The second question asks for your height and weight, so it can figure out where you fall on the BMI chart. When you get to question three, there will be a little box in the corner that shows how many years the calculator estimates that you will live. It asks about your family health history, in regards to cardiovascular issues.
Question four asks about your blood pressure. There are a total of thirteen questions, and some of the rest ask about your stress level, how much exercise you get, how healthy your food choices are, and how often you wear your seatbelt. It also wants to know your driving habits, your drinking habits, and if you have ever smoked or used “recreational” drugs. The last question asks you how often you go to a doctor.
At the end, your estimated lifespan will be in a box at the top of the calculator. For me, it says that I will live to be 87 years old. I am very surprised that it didn’t ask if I was married or how many children I had.
Image by Rochelle Hartman on Flickr