This chart shows when members of a generation drop out from among the (not necessarily healthy, but at least) incapacity-free category, or from life. Speaking of the data of 1986, if you draw a vertical line at a certain age, from the relative length of its sections between the horizontal axis an the appropriate curves, you can estimate what percentage of the male/female survivors is without any kind of incapacitating disabilities at that age. One can see the extent of the problem of disabilities that necessitate long term care, and how the timing of this problem is culminating at advanced ages.

Another informative reading of the chart is the illustration of how far death has generally been postponed. Previously, the shrinkage of a generation was quite even and it started in early childhood; in the last decades the great majority of people live much longer. With the maturing of the 'baby-boomer' generation, this tendency will be even more emphasized. To me at least, the developments reflected here, and evidenced by the health data presented on other pages of this site, suggest that for many people, there is a need to refocus attention and rearrange priorities in insurance.

For people with dependents, protection of them should remain a primary objective. Protection of self from potentially horrible financial consequences of illnesses and incapacitating disabilities during increasingly long lives should be much more important to practically all of us, than it was before. While nobody can foretell exactly how the system of social support and health care will evolve, even purely from the quite hard data of demography one can still predict with certainty that individuals and families can rely less and less on social support in coping with these problems in the future. There will surely be a need for more self-reliance not just in dealing with traditional risks, but also with this new "risk of living for too long". Innovative insurance products can help with the financial burden of not only early death, costly health problems, but also with providing the means for an enjoyable life during increasingly long retirement life periods.

 

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