How Long Will You Live? Here’s Guide

Published December 13, 1979. Contrary to popular opinion, most Americans still marry and stay married to their spouse. With the decline in the death rate, an increasing number of couples are celebrating a Golden Wedding Anniversary. When we marry most of us expect it to be for our lifetime, but there is no way of knowing how long that will be. Or is there? Dr. Richard Schulz, psychology professor at Carnegie-Mellon University thinks so.

Dr. Schulz completed a detailed study of factors related to longevity and has devised a guide for estimating how long we will live. Using this guide both husband and wife can get a rough estimate of how many years of marriage can be anticipated.

The life expectancy for males in the U.S. is 67, and for females it is age 75. Using these figures as a base, Dr. Schulz then provides several variables where you add or subtract years from the base to estimate your own longevity. Here are a few examples.

If you are in your 50s or 60s, add 10 years to the base because you have already proven yourself to be quite durable. If you are over age 60, add an additional 2 years.

Your ancestors are a critical factor in your longevity, according to Dr. Schulz. If you have or had two or more grandparents live beyond 80 years, add 5 years to your base. But subtract 4 years if any parent, grandparent, or sibling died of a heart attack or stroke before age 50. Subtract another 3 years if any of your parents or grandparents has or had diabetes, thyroid disorder, breast cancer, cancer of the digestive system, asthma, or chronic bronchitis.

If you are married, add 4 years, but if you are single you subtract 1 year for every unwedded decade past age 20. And apparently your economic status is important. According to the guide, you deduct 2 years if your family income is over $40,000 a year (an apparent stress factor) and deduct 3 years from the base if you have been poor the greater part of your life.

Dr. Schulz also claims there is an inverse correlation between weight and longevity. Simply put, the more you eat the shorter your life span. Subtract 1 year for every 10 pounds you are overweight and for every inch your waist measurement exceeds your chest measurement, deduct another 2 years. If you are 40 years old and not overweight, add 3 years.

Exercise is another critical factor according to the psychology professor. If you have a job where you sit most of the day, subtract 3 years. Add 3 years if you are physically active while at work. If you exercise moderately or regularly (e.g. jog three times a week) add 3 years, but if your exercise is vigorous add 5 years. If you smoke two or more packs a day, subtract 8 years; one to two packs a day, subtract 4 years; and if you smoke less than one pack a day, deduct 2 years from the base.

People who sleep too much apparently live a shorter life, so if you sleep more than 9 hours a day, subtract 5 years. And have you checked the thermostat at your home lately? Dr. Schulz found that cooler temperatures are apparently better, so add 2 years if the temperature in your home is usually no higher than 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

The guide for estimating longevity also takes into consideration other factors such as how much formal education you have had (the more you have, the longer you are anticipated to live), rural vs. urban environment (country folks come out ahead), alcohol consumption (heavy boozers, turn in your bottles if you want to live 5-10 years longer), and your general disposition.

If you worry a great deal, are often unhappy, are aggressive, intense and competitive, you’ll have a shorter life span according to Dr. Schulz. Have you recently seen your doctor and dentist for a check-up? You may live longer if you do.

The intriguing aspect of Dr. Schulz’s guide is not so much in estimating how long you are going to live, but his documentation that we all do, or do not do, certain things that bring about death sooner than it normally would occur.

Henry David Thoreau went to the woods of Walden “because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Perhaps marriage would be more meaningful if we lived each 24-hour period as if it were our last. Someday it will be.