Well, it used to be 65. A lot of factory workers who smoked took early retirement at 55 with reduced wages and pension benefits, but increased time for fishing. And all this was great during the FDR Era. The average white male lived to about 67 and change, the average female, about 69. We died peacefully in a bed filled with soot from Camels and Menthol Parliaments a la Marlboro.
But then we stopped smoking. We stopped eating meat every night. We started working out. We stopped driving drunk. We started getting vaccinated for pretty much everything. We started drinking Diet Whatever. And lo and behold, today, the average life span for most Americans is around 82 if you're a male and 84 if you're a female. And that number is still growing.
So if you retire at 65, today, you need enough cash around (or investments that throw cash, or are sellable), to pay for 22 years of life instead of just two and change. Huge difference. Tons of very old people driving Uber to just make ends meet.
So what happens when they, en masse, run out of money? Answer: Bad things.
So yeah, that's why this term is even a Thing. We have to start discussing it more as a nation or we're going to start looking a lot more like Bangalore or Delhi than New York or Miami. Great nations don't let millions beg on the streets.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is an actuary?2 Views
and finance Allah shmoop What is an actuary Oh all
right people The world is a dangerous place You could
get hit by a speeding Maserati while crossing the road
or choke on your next bite of pastrami on rye
Yep same goes for businesses They take on risk opening
up a new store in a new location or working
with a new vendor An actuary not a fake actuary
assesses the actual value of insurance risks and the premiums
that should be required to pay Hey for those risks
we're talking all types of risk here people for individuals
We've got health insurance life insurance and car insurance as
individuals and we have dealing with the Ricks of well
being alive dying in car damage for businesses There's worker's
compensation insurance you know in case workers get injured on
the job Right Professional liability insurance We have two In
case you have an oops seize moment and property insurance
you know to cover equipment and the building itself in
case there's a fire We're quake or other catastrophe If
you liked poker like Todd and you have a bad
poker face While actuarial work might be a good fit
for you Actuaries like good poker players like Todd are
good at calculating bets Actuaries are betting on the future
using statistics to figure out the risk of a certain
not so fortunate event happening when a person or a
business gets insurance Well they're essentially taking on a bet
for instance for health insurance When you buy it you're
betting that you'll need it Otherwise why would you be
buying it right The Health insurance agency is betting that
you'll be fine if you win the bet Well that
means you lost in real life You're probably in a
hospital bed somewhere But hey you won the bet which
means you get the insurance payout You know that the
health insurance company promised you well Every month you don't
end up in a hospital while the health insurance company
wins the bet Right When they win a vet they
keep collecting your monthly payments A premiums while you keep
walking around you know unharmed For now insurance companies are
in the business of betting on the future Actuaries figure
out the Probabilities III the likelihood of these unfortunate events
happening They use these probabilities of unfortunate event calculating likely
liabilities into the future to figure out how much premiums
the dough you pay to them should be And what
the insurance hey out would look like if you win
your health insurance bet against your own health slash life
slash business savvy Yeah So how can premiums be so
much less than the promised insurance payout Well first nobody
would be buying insurance if premiums cost the same as
the payout Like if you would like $10,000 should you
ever find yourself wrapped up like a mummy in a
hospital bed you wouldn't hey an insurance company $10,000 Now
you just keep the money in your bank account Or
maybe in stocks where it can grow or earn interest
Until that catastrophe hits Well that interest is the key
Insurance companies like banks makes some of their money by
taking the money you give them an investing it So
when you're paying insurance companies say 300 bucks a month
you're not just giving them $300 but also the opportunity
to make interest on that $300 an opportunity that you
lose People are willing to pay a premium overtime betting
against themselves for the fat insurance payout that will come
if and when they really need it In this way
actuaries are like poker players betting on danger actuaries air
math whizzes usually and puzzle solvers crunching numbers at computers
It's a pretty chill gig with a sizable income if
you're good at it but it takes lots of math
education and test to get there You confined actuaries anywhere
that sell insurance It's one of those jobs where there's
probably only one of you with the company and you
know like the guy like tech support only your way
cooler because you're basically the danger arranger guy Bonus points
If you get that printed on your business card yeah
