Long life is something that many people aspire to. If you asked a room of people if they wanted to live to be 100 years old, most would raise their hands.
Longevity is the buzzword. Women already live on average six years longer than men and can easily live over 100 years. More than 8 out of 10 of her centenarians are women.
But there's a dark side, too, says Maddie Dichtwald, author of the new book Ageless Aging: A Woman's Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan, published by Mayo Clinic Press.
In terms of healthy life expectancy, women are inferior to men. “On average, women in the United States spend the past 12 to 14 years experiencing a series of poor health outcomes,” she says. “There's no need for that.”
The following has been edited for length and clarity, as Dychtwald recently spoke to Yahoo Finance about why women need to be in control for longer, happier lives.
Maddie, why is this a women's issue?
Women really have won the longevity lottery. It will take many more years to gain her purpose, joy, vitality, and energy, but she will need to take control of her lifestyle and environment. Women have the ability to change the narrative around aging and make it more positive and empowering.
How do we do that?
It's not just one thing. Science shows that diet really does matter and that exercise may be the magic bullet for living longer and better. But it's also about sleep, hormones, how to access the healthcare system, and importantly, economics, which most people don't think about when they think about living a healthy life.
These all work together. They are not siloed. Not having your financial home in order can create stress, create health problems, and send you down a rabbit hole in terms of health and well-being. They may also not be able to afford the medical care they need.
Can you dig a little deeper into how financial anxiety can negatively impact our health?
Worry of any kind causes anxiety, which causes increased cortisol levels in the system, which attacks the system in a very negative way. We've all felt irritable, had high blood pressure, or felt heart palpitations. These are not good things for you when you are worried about something, especially when you are worried about money.
For women, this is a big problem. Because for a variety of reasons, they're not as successful as men when it comes to saving for retirement. She has one pay gap and typically retires several years earlier than men.
Even very wealthy women fear that they will have no money at all at the end of their lives. And this fear consumes them and actually affects their health.
What can women do to address this issue?
It all started with the idea of acquiring financial knowledge, which is also available online, and really understanding the basics. Finding a trusted advisor is important, but it's not easy. And by leveraging that knowledge and actually owning it, you'll be able to make financial decisions with confidence.
By the way, when it comes to most tasks that women do financially, like budgeting, we're good at it and we're very confident, but when it comes to investing, we're less confident.
Maddie, you said women would rather talk about their death than money. Could you tell me more?
When it comes to talking about how much they earn in terms of salary, what kind of bonuses they're looking for, and what promotions and investments they're looking for, women are less willing than men to share that information.
We need to open it up and talk about it very frankly. Because by doing so, we'll probably feel a little better about our own personal circumstances, which can lead to better overall health.
Wealth and happiness are the themes of your book. Why?
The word wealth has a bad reputation. We think about wealth, we think about rights, we think about the super-rich people who are just throwing things around. However, the word comes from the Old English word “weal,” meaning “wealth, well-being, well-being.” In fact, money is about happiness.
You write about different types of aging. Can we talk?
One of them is aging over time. How many birthdays do you have? For example, I've eaten her 74 times, which is great. Then there's emotional or psychological aging, and that's the kind of aging we want to embrace. There are some things that increase as you get older. One of them is your level of happiness and resilience. By the way, our anxiety levels seem to be reduced, but I haven't found that yet. Those things actually get better. That's the good side of aging, or the good side of aging.
Next, biological aging occurs. Although we can't slow down the flow of time, we can help reduce the physical and biological changes that occur as we age by eating healthier, exercising, and sleeping better. It is something that can be influenced in part. By changing the way we think about aging, we could add an average of seven and a half years to our own aging lives, according to a recent study. That's kind of amazing.
Can you talk a little bit about purpose and how work helps us find our purpose?
Purpose is an essential element of ageless aging. There's no doubt about that. Mark Friedman, founder of Cogenerate, told me that there is a big P purpose and a small P purpose. Both are essential and very important. So the big P purpose is, if you're starting a nonprofit, or building a new career, or starting a business, these are big purposes. So is volunteering your time to serve something that really matters to you and that you are very passionate about.
Purpose with a little “P” is like if you ride your horse every day or if I walk my dog in the morning. In one study, we asked people where they could accomplish the most goals. And the best way was to spend time with my family.
How can work make our aging process smoother and happier in life?
Working a little longer not only gives you a stronger sense of purpose, but it also helps on many other levels. A few more years of a little more income can make a big difference in our lives and give us some social connections. Loneliness is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. That's crazy.
Thoughts of parting?
The big message for women is that it's never too late to take control of your health and happiness. That means everything from your finances to the way you eat and sleep to your exercise habits. Find your entry point. For me, it was exercise. Because I've discovered that taking a 30-minute walk every day makes me feel so much better. It motivated me to eat a little more healthy. My sleep improved. I started spending more time with my friends. I realized that I can exercise, I can exercise outdoors, I can exercise with friends, and most of all, we can support each other in this process to live better and longer.
Kelly Hannon is a senior columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 of her books, including “The World's Best.''Taking Control Even Over 50: How to Succeed in the New World of Work.” and “You’re never too old to get rich.” Follow her on X @Kellyhannon.
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