The seven choices that lead to longevity
One of my favorite speakers from last week's Age Boom Academy at Columbia University was Laura Carstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. She offered great hope that as boomers age, we won't necessarily be a big financial, emotional drain, as most of society fears. It's complicated predicting which aging boomers will be able to work, love and give back into older age.
But those who do aging well will help themselves there, she wrote in an article, by embracing (by age 50) seven healthy lifestyles that "serve as excellent predictors of well-being after age 70. They are not smoking, not abusing alcohol, getting regular exercise, maintaining one's weight, having a stable marriage, an education and good coping mechanisms for dealing with life's troubles."