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Dear Mary Pat,

All your work is great, and appreciated. Some might not like to think about these things, so talking you up to others is rather a hard sell.

Combine that with your infuriatingly calm and reasonable tone, one I associate with an accountant telling a client, "No, you won't be doing any of those things. Because, actually, you're broke." so I don't often play your podcasts here at work....

I'm 54, and many friends and co-workers are between 45-50. A few years ago I noticed an unusual number of them had both parents still living, and had not thought seriously that that was certain to change, and soon.

One particular thought, of sons, is not wanting to predecease their mothers. That this has led to lifestyle changes for A few of these middle-aged men, is entirely a Good Thing. Still, looking at these tables... I've got some news for you, buddy.....

I have to get back to work, but the open question intrigues me. For a son's and mother's age, what are the (cumulative) chances the son will die first?

Thank you for being great.

BRetty

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Howdy BRetty -- one thing you can try is the Actuaries Longevity Illustrator:

https://www.longevityillustrator.org/

this allows you to put in the age/sex of two people, and it is intended for retirement planning, but it can give you an idea about survivorship in general.

For parents & children, there's usually a gap of 20+ years, so you generally don't get very high probabilities. It takes a child being in very poor health to get that [and, unfortunately, with drug overdoses, that's where we're getting higher rates now... so maybe I should put that on my list to check]

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