The death test: Your life expectancy days are numbered

By Lim Tri Santosa

BANDUNG (JP): "How long will my money last?" is a question that worries a lot of retirees and soon-to-be retirees. The answer hinges on a number of issues, including how much annual income you will need, what inflation does in the future and, most importantly, how long you will live. Although most people have no idea of how long they will live, finding out their life expectancy is one way to fill in this blank in their retirement plans. But how is life expectancy calculated and should you put much reliance on it when planning for the future?

The most important thing to remember about life expectancy is that it doesn't lock in at birth. As you get older, the age to which you're expected to live gets higher (wow, sounds refreshing) because the people in your age group who have died are no longer counted in the equation (referring to statistical probability theory). For example, the life expectancy at birth for males born in 1930 was 59. Those who lived to age 30 then had a life expectancy of 67. At 65, those remaining can anticipate living not two but 12 more years to age 77. And once they reach 70, their life expectancy increases to 79.

If you are a 100 years old, you have a good chance of living forever. Why?

Because very few people die after age 100. Recently, The Guinness Book of Records looked for the oldest woman after Eva Morris died six days before her 115th birthday on Nov. 2, 2000. If you still think that it makes sense, here is another fact: The most dangerous place for humans is the bed - because most people die in bed. Don't sweat, this is only a statistics joke. Don't take it seriously, even though Eva died in her bed, too.

IDB Summary Demographic Data for Indonesia (www.census.gov/ftp/pub/ipc/www/idbsum.html) predicted that life expectancy at birth in the year 2000 is 68 years. More developed regions of the world generally have higher life expectancies than less developed regions. The regional variation is quite dramatic. However, some countries like Saudi Arabia have a very high GNP per capita but don't have high life expectancies (67.8 years). Conversely, there are countries like China (71.4 years) and Cuba (76.2 years) that have a low GNP per capita but that have reasonably high life expectancies.

Okay, I think enough of the theories and facts. So, have you ever wondered how long you will live? Let's play a fun test. You will never find a convenient expiration day on your birth certificate. Get the exact day of your death by taking the pseudoscientific death test at TheSpark.com (which also offers some other interesting tests including those on love, sex and pregnancy). There is a list of probabilities of what you will most likely die from on "that date".

The site claimed that more than 6.6 million people have undertaken the test, and some interesting statistics have been gathered, including the following: 54 percent of test takers were female (women are more curious than men), the average life expectancy is 67 years (slightly under the average Indonesian life expectancy this year), 9 percent have hairy nipples (I still don't understand the significance), about 100,915 people claimed to have leprosy (do they know the meaning of the word?).

You simply answer a series of biologically, nutritionally, and recreationally oriented questions ranging from the serious "How often do you lift weights?" to the silly "Do you regularly light firecrackers in your mouth and then spit them out at the last second?". This short self-scoring life expectancy test provides feedback on how lifestyle choices such as exercise and smoking influence health. Responses to each question determine whether years are to be added or subtracted. If you're not happy with the results, don't lie and give a compromised answer.

By the way, if you are not satisfied with the result, there are other sites that are willing to calculate your life expectancy. Perhaps you will get a better score. Try at www.msnbc.com/modules/quizzes/lifex.asp; http://www.hksrch.com.hk/life_old.html; www.beeson.org/Livingto100/quiz.htm.

Compare the different scores, and then calculate the average score.

People are living longer and longer. It is often thought that an increase in life expectancy signifies an improvement in the health of a population. Studies have shown that this is not necessarily true, as longer life expectancy could be achieved by prolonging the lives of those with serious illnesses. Quality of life, rather than length, has become an important concern.

Keep in mind that life expectancy figures are conservative. Individuals who don't smoke, maintain a healthy weight and keep their blood pressure and cholesterol under control with diet and exercise could live ten to 15 years longer than current statistical tables show. If longevity runs in your family, your odds are even better. Therefore, unless you have life-threatening health problems, it's a good idea for you and your spouse to plan on living into your 90s.