Would you want to live to 100?

[Isitstillchristmas01]

I was just reading about former US president Jimmy Carter who has died aged 100. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live to that age. I don’t know what his health was like and how he lived his life in his later years but that would be too old for me. Even if I was relatively mobile and had my faculties, I would have had enough by then. Also imagine how much everyday life would have changed by then. How do you keep up?!

How do you feel about living to 100?

Ah, my friend’s granny just died at 103, still walking to her weekly wash and set and making cakes 3 weeks before the end.

So it’s OK if you’re like that - she had good family and enough money. My step granny was still whirling around the world on holiday in her mid eighties and I have just had to insist on my MIL coming down of a ladder where she was trying to fix the conservatory roof, aged 86.

Sadly I don’t share any of their genes, but if you have good health, a positive outlook, family and enough cash - it’s OK.

Definitely not. 80 is enough for me

Heavens no. My GGran lived into her 90s and was a bitter old woman. She didn't have a good life though (huge backstory). I think if I live to 85 It'll be good innings.

Only if I was still enjoying life, surely we can push the boundaries of healthy lifespan a bit?

I want to find out what happens to those billionaires who think they can live forever by taking all the right tablets etc.
And just generally I want to find out what happens in the future . . . I want to see as much of it as possible!

I would be happy to as long as I have reasonable health and was not housebound.

A friends mum is 96. She still lives independently and gets some kind of enhanced benefits.

My friend does have to help her a lot as does his sister.

She refuses carers so it is very tricky. She has all manner of things wrong with her.

No. My gran is 92 and she is quite clearly done with life now. All her friends are dead, her husband is dead, she's now going to funerals of the generation below her. Her mobility is now severely limited and she has a lot of pain from various things but because she's 92 all they can do is throw painkillers at it, which have other side effects. At my mum's funeral last year she was very upset and kept saying it should have been her. She's not someone who will sit and read books or watch box sets, she was always very active until the last few years and now her life is so small.

I think mid 80s assuming I'm healthy up till then will be quite enough for me. Gives me time to see children well set up, maybe have some grandchildren.

My grandmother lived to 99, she was lucky enough not to suffer anything debilitating and it was only in the last couple of years of her life that she had the tendency to ask you the same question twice in a conversation. One of her main character traits was that she was always very interested in everything - my mum was the same. I think that is an important factor in having a decent old age.

I wouldn't like it - even if you're in relatively good health, by that stage your body would still be knackered, and your life quite limited. We are not designed to live that long. Plus you may have outlived everyone you care about, including children or even grandchildren.

I don't like this idea that modern medicine can have us all somehow living to 120 - it's arrogant and unnatural, like we can outrun death.

My father was pumped full of medication in the last few months of his life, and I wish he hadn't been, it just barely kept him going, but he didn't have a good quality of life at the end.

Although my mother is now 80 and still in pretty good health, no major health issues, has been on blood pressure tablets for years but other than that is ok and can move around fine. Her outlook is pretty negative though, and I'm well aware her health could deteriorate very quickly in the next few years.

Your parents sound fab 🙂

Most definitely not, I'm 66 and wouldn't want to live another 34 years.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, please!

75. And even then only my health, mobility and Bank account is healthy. I doubt the later will be. Frankly, I might be happy to go at 55 if life's shit at that point in time. As it's not likely to get better.

I would if I was 99

My aunt is 93 still independent and in good health, so I'm hoping to do similar.
Dad was a heavy smoker and in poor health from 60s onwards.

No.

One DGM was very active but spent her last 8 years in a dementia home and died age 97.
The other DGM started saying age 90 “I’ve lived too long” she ended up bedridden in a home at 92, before dementia set in a couple of years later, and finally died age 96.
DF is currently in a dementia care home age 74 and DM is suffering mobility issues at 73.
I hate to think what state I would be in if I lived to 100, I already have chronic health conditions that started in my 40’s that are going to cause huge issues as I get even older.

@head2toeinuniqlo Dignitas is currently around £10k. That seems pretty unaffordable to most too!

Dementia hit my dad hard at 83 he died at 87. He’d lived a good, active life until 83 and then it hit him like a steam train. Went from being “normal”, living by himself, driving, totally fit and active to having to live in a care home as he needed 24 hour supervision so he didn’t kill himself or someone else within 8 months.

I wouldn’t wish dementia on my worst enemy and everyday my dad had it, I prayed I’d get a call to say he’d died in his sleep. It’s a living hell for them. He lived 4 years with it as he’d always kept his body so fit and healthy. A healthy body is no use when your mind is gone.

If I am lucky enough to be anything like my GM who is early 90s and has just today flown over to visit family, is sharp as a tack (bar a little hearing loss) and still takes a lot of pleasure from life, then yes please. But if anything like DH’s GM of the same age - housebound by choice, won’t accept visitors, lives a life of misery - then no ta.

My instinct is no, but I do know that one's perspective can change as time goes on so it would be interesting to get the honest thoughts of people in their 90s.

If I was healthy, fairly independent and had a good quality of life, yes. I have children in my family with additional needs so I would want to be around for them as long as possible. I think the chance of having a good quality of life at 100 is fairly low though.

One of her main character traits was that she was always very interested in everything - my mum was the same. I think that is an important factor in having a decent old age.

Mine was too. Both my parents got to mid 80s in reasonable physical health and mentally sharp, before each got to the point of feeling they'd had enough and then not living much longer - dm got pneumonia which she refused active treatment for, she'd always called it 'the old man's friend'.

We've known other people who were similar - the 'I don't want other people to have to wipe my bum for me' type of mindset. It seems like they have a will to live up to a certain point but then essentially have a 'will to die'. They don't actually kill themselves but they can avoid prolongation. Perhaps one of the tragedies of dementia is that it robs people of that sort of agency?

It would depend on many factors.
Was my health ok?
Could I still go out and about and do things?
Was I still fairly independent?
Did I still have family and friends around me?

Three of my grandparents lived to their 90s and they were pretty healthy and very happy. Whilst not having loads of money they were on. One was still dancing most weeks and seeing family and friends regularly. They weren't miserable and struggling.

I'm always astonished by the amount of people who say no to this question.
I have a genetic condition that means I'm in pain all the time, and I have one living blood relative - this to say that I'm already fully aware of what a) poor health and b) not having anyone look like.

But there's so much to learn and see, and read, and experience that our lives are but the blink of an eye - I would live forever if I could and see the heat death of the universe. If I live to be 100 (statistically probable) I wouldn't get a chance to learn half the languages that exist.