The five-act future if we knew we’d live to 100

Great idea and one that I have basically followed in my lifetime. I just set the end date at around 85 though. Parents started a savings account at their children's birth and ensured we got a good education. I contributed to Super from the first day of work and had a regular saving plan of at least 10% of my income. Worked hard and income grew over the years, invested in growth assets (which keep pace with inflation). I never saw any reason to wait until 60 to take time off, so I took overseas holidays every year - sometimes lived and worked overseas for a year at a time. I never married though and have no children - Mr. Right never came along! Retired early at 57 and am free to do anything I want. It can be done but it requires planning, discipline and focus.

Don, Thank you for sharing your insights and group conversations from revised conference. It takes great minds to jump off the hamster wheel of work grind to consider other realities and to step outside the frame of religious, social and family conformity. Visioning future possibilities is an important part of bringing the future to the here and now for action. Pity some lack the foresight to see this emerging reality.

I agree starting a lifelong retirement plan from birth is important part of funding longer lifespans. One that I have already suggested to the ATO! A social plan from cradle to the grave approach is needed to pace life. Ideally options for young people to equip themselves for future life, family and/or social responsibility are needed. Options for young people in their 20’s and early 30’s could include burning the candle at both ends to gain experience and accumulate wealth to be able to later afford raising a family and/or exploring new directions in expanding fields going into their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s as occurs in FIRE community. Perhaps the norm for automated future work will only be available as part-time for employees/contractors, yet business owners may choose to work full-time.

Housing affordability may be relieved by funding to expand housing capacity on existing blocks to accommodate intergenerational families, such as has occurred in Japan for decades, along with timeframes for paying off the home loan over several generations. Hence lowering the cost of living and infrastructure costs. The main draw back is that some family members may choose to not live together due capacity, dysfunction, abuse/violence, and more low cost public/social housing is needed at 10% per city/town housing stock.

The uncertainty of living in a changing social, political and environmental world along with changing perceptions of time/money/resources requires back up social support system with living wage, housing security and access to employment and health care. People less able to monetize their skills and/or social engagement in society to care for themselves and their family need social system. Also, the impact of environmental refugees migration internally and externally requires a social plan to assist people re-integrate and recover from their displacement into new safer areas.

Yes, there are many issues that can be seen now and many more unseen issues that need the quite contemplation and reflection to consider how we as a society respond and plan for these expected and unexpected events. How we look after our society now and into the future is a reflection of our humanity and whether we will survive as a species on earth…

Don......You start encouragingly with a 'scientific fact'.... that the human brain takes about 25 years to mature ! "More importantly, we encourage continuing education while the brain and emotional maturity are growing, until roughly age 25. Let the adolescent mind learn and explore, incorporating opportunities for travel, community service and interning." Thoroughly admirable thoughts and aims Don ! .However , THIS is where all that 'high-falutin' theory ' fails ......and "falls into a great gooey heap" of reality ! The increasing "worship of youth" and the "perpetuation of adolescence" and the ever-increasing postponement of the "age of reason and the development and acceptance of responsibility"......especially responsibility.....is what is producing these simpering , whimpering , mentally-plagued generations of "hard-done-by" , "entitled" , inadequate , dependent and demanding yet ungrateful , expensively and highly educated yet inarticulate people , detached and devoid of their own ideas and almost paralysed into inaction by inexplicable fears of their own imagination.........at a TIME IN HISTORY when people have NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD MATERIALLY ! Wealth , health , longevity and everything else is at it's absolute pinnacle ! Constructive Main-Stream-Religion has been sidelined in favour of airy-fairy "spiritualism" and superstitious belief and atheism....which removes so much personal strength and value and hope and optimism from the equation ! You stated the fact that the human brain takes about 25 years to mature .....and yet .....ignorant and infantile advocates like "Greta Thunberg" are given FRONT PAGE endorsement by people who should know better ! Entertainers [ like footballers and swimmers and musicians and TV 'personalities' and 'influencers' , "activists and their ilk" ] are accorded HERO STATUS , devaluing and denigrating the REAL HEROES , who were and are very few and far between ! The almost constant devaluation of our entire Western Culture , Civilisation and achievements is ACHIEVING exactly what it has set out to do.......and YOUR ambitious proposals will NEVER get off the ground ....if this devaluation of "us" and the continual preference of "others" is allowed to continue. Todays CHILDREN are growing-up HATING THEMSELVES and their cultures , taking drugs and committing suicide in great numbers .....but THAT mustn't be mentioned must it ! It's taboo !!! ......Already , the WORLD POPULATION is in decline , in some places , irreversibly , and with that "we" are losing so much potential brain-power and the productive thoughts and ideas that would create THAT FUTURE you crave ! Sadly , the diversion of wealth into nil-return , dead-end enterprises [ especially by Governments of late ] is wrecking the perception of a "brighter future" by saddling it deep in un-repayable-debt ! So there are NOT the funds available to explore and implement YOUR WORTHWHILE PROPOSALS unless "we" can get back to RESPONSIBLE REALITY and an EDUCATION SYSTEM that is not the 'indoctrination vehicle ' for malevolents to utilise that "we" have at present ! . So Don , there is a REAL CHALLENGE for you and "us" to resolve first I would say !

Very true, but thinking of existential crises such as climate change, I believe the great majority of people, which includes the most senior and mentally mature, still have a tendency to act like the 3 ‘wise’ monkeys, instead of blowing the whistle on entrenched practices that now threaten human existence, particularly of this younger generation.

Great critique Trevor!
I don't see many listening, sadly, but that is how it is or has become. To turn it around may be impossible due to the inertia set in. I still love hearing/reading Plato - now there's a good influence, but who wants to hear it?
Thanks.

Trevor, you talk (and write) such sense. However, there is a reality we must all face. The Western World Life Model has changed forever. So much intelligence, creativity and time is now wasted on pursuits of absolutely no value.
We idolise, hang off every word and slavishly follow the self-appointed 'influencers' and pseudo-experts. We have become woke beyond woke-ness! Why are we all so 'time-poor' that we need to have drive-through grocery shopping, hot pizza and pre-cooked food delivered within minutes to our front doors? It's because we have wasted so much time flicking right or left for an attractive partner, then being seduced by Tik-Tok for hours, or disappearing zombie-like down the internet labyrinth for more hours-on-end, for absolutely zero value. These, and countless other aimless time-wasting drivel, consume the only really valuable commodity within our control. TIME. This 'time' becomes hours, then days, weeks, months and years. None of it will come back or pay a life-enhancing dividend.
We will definitely need to live to 100 to achieve what could be achieved in half that time. But, thanks for the challenge.

Very interesting and thoughtprovoking Don.
What about people who will always find themselves in work that could be classified as drudgery. Or the long-term unemployed?

You can't cheat on biology. For humans the years from 20 to 40 are biologically determined years of top creativity, ability, capacity and productivity. These are also years when individuals can sustain enormous efforts and workloads relatively effortlessly. This results in producing majority of their lifetime achievements in this period. The proposed scheme's Act 2 completely wastes this potential by completely ignoring biological realities and suggesting a period of some half-baked part time jobs.

I disagree with you, Chris: by their 40-45 lots of people I know, are tired and "wasted" mentally and health-wise in the career-money chasing hamster wheel, what you seem to call "productivity".
As to having children: untill in their 40ties people aren't making consious choices, hence they should not be even alowed to have children, untill they themselves grow-up!
This is a great article, based on up-to-date realities, based on leaving a life and not living a lie )))

Living to 100, in relatively good physical and mental health sounds great. Just need to persuade the majority to not over eat (obesity is a growing problem), exercise and move more, drink less, consume less junk food, sugar and salt, spend less, save more and invest more. Tell him he's dreaming! (for the majority!)

As an 88 year old I am enjoying life greatly with 11 grandchildren and 2 (to be 3 soon)great grandchildren. I feel very fortunate to have good health and lots of love from extended family and help also when needed. I will probably live till at least 100 years as the family are long living. So long as I keep my marbles I will be fine.

Excellent thoughts thanks Don. We have seen elements of many of them trotted out separately but it's really good to see them brought together like this. It's why we need to marshal the best resources here in Australia to fully design and implement a National Longevity Strategy. First steps in this direction are at nationallongevitystrategy.au. Contributions and contributors welcome!

'Don Ezra, now retired, ...' - and thus presumably in Act 5 ?!
Very interesting and thought provoking article.

Great article. This is an issue the Financial Services sector will need to address. The "longevity bonus" is here to stay!