Three Important Spans of Life

 

Uncertainty is a reality of life and nowhere is this more applicable than later life when people face uncertainties about their health (will I get diabetes or dementia?), wealth (will I outlive my savings?), and life expectancy (how long will I live?). This post will describe three important spans of life.

Life span is the length of time a person lives, from birth until death. Health span is the portion of life spent in relatively good health, with physical and mental ability to perform desired activities and maintain independence. Wealth span is the period when people have sufficient financial resources to support their desired lifestyle. These three spans are closely connected, especially during later life.

 

Most people want all three spans to be long. In other words, to live a long life (longevity) in good health with enough money to support themselves. This outcome takes planning and positive daily habits. Below are strategies to lengthen the three spans of your life.

 

Life Span

 

People can support longevity by avoiding tobacco, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a nutritious diet, staying physically active, getting adequate sleep, managing stress, receiving recommended preventive care, and maintaining meaningful social connections. Regular medical and dental checkups are also important to identify health problems early. Avoiding preventable injuries, particularly falls and automobile accidents, also becomes increasingly important with age.

 

Health Span

 

Lengthening health span means a longer period of healthy functioning. Strength training can help preserve muscle mass, while aerobic activity supports cardiovascular health. Balance and flexibility exercises may reduce fall risk and help people remain mobile. Cognitive stimulation through reading, learning new skills, hobbies, and social activities can support mental well-being. Also, managing chronic conditions, taking medications appropriately, and addressing hearing or vision problems.

 

Wealth Span

 

Strategies include saving consistently before retirement, avoiding excessive debt, maintaining an emergency fund, diversifying investments, controlling spending, and developing a sustainable retirement withdrawal strategy. Delaying Social Security, when appropriate, can increase monthly benefits, while working longer can provide additional earnings and allow retirement savings to grow. Retirees should also plan for inflation, taxes, health and long-term care expenses, and longevity risk.

 

The goal is not just maximizing each span independently but aligning your health span, wealth span, and life span. Successful aging is about more than adding years to life. It is also about adding life to those years with good health and financial resources to make later life enjoyable and meaningful. Remember, the greatest wealth is health (Virgil, BC).

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. 

Take-Aways From AFCPE Symposium Recordings-Part 2

In this post, I continue to summarize some of my key take-aways from the video recordings of concurrent sessions held at the 2025 Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) Symposium. Below are some additional take-aways:

Financial Literacy and App Use- Digital financial literacy is the ability to use websites, apps, and other electronic tools to enhance financial well-being. A study found that frequent financial app users are six times more likely to have an employer retirement savings account and occasional users were 2.5 times more likely. App users were also more likely than others to set retirement goals.

 

Perceptions of Debt- Culture shapes the way that people view debt. It is not just about the numbers but whether or not someone’s debt is viewed as a “family responsibility.” There is a growing number of Americans who “look good on paper” but that is not how they feel.

 

Hedonic Treadmill- This is the human tendency to pursue one pleasure after another. We keep moving the goal post of what makes us happy unless we are aware of it. Lifestyle creep is like a silent inflation. One recommended strategy was putting something in an online shopping cart and waiting before making a purchase (or not). Happiness flows from experiences- not purchases.

 

Cryptocurrency- About 14% of U.S. adults own some type of cryptocurrency and the United States federal government is the largest known government holder of Bitcoin in the world. Crypto use is most common among men under age 50 and crypto ATMs, which look like regular automatic teller machines, are increasingly available. Cryptocurrency is decentralized and not subject to regulation.

 

Book Clubs as a Financial Education Tool- Personal finance concepts can be taught through a book club that combines structured reading and conversation, either online or in face-to-face meetings. Learners receive a reading schedule with assigned chapters each week. Books used in one book club were Die With Zero, The Latte Factor, Happy Money, and The 30-Day Money Cleanse.

 

Suitcases and Savings- It is helpful to make three rankings for travel planning purposes: must do, nice to do, and not important to do. Next, create a sinking fund to save for travel expenses unless you already have money saved. Finally, brainstorm ways to decrease travel expenses. An online search or AI can help. Older adults should not delay travel during their healthy and mobile “go-go” years.

 

Retirement Planning- Retirement is akin to divorce. People break up with their employer and working life in general. Living without a mapped out schedule can be scary. Coalescence (i.e., older adult adolescence) was proposed as a new term for retirement. It is a period when people redefine their identities beyond careers. Components include social interaction, relevance, and excitement.

 

Familial Identity Theft- Estimates indicate that up to one-third of all identity theft is familial (i.e., someone steals a family member’s personal information to commit fraud). There are three consequences for victims: financial, emotional (e.g., betrayal), and physical (e.g., insomnia). Research found that familial ID theft can co-occur with other forms of abuse (polyvictimization). 

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Take-Aways From AFCPE Symposium Recordings-Part 1

 

A great feature of the annual Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) Symposium is that AFCPE records all the breakout sessions and makes them available online to attendees for one year. Long gone are the days when you needed to 1. choose one session from multiple topics of interest and miss hearing others, or 2. buy cassette/DVD recordings of missed sessions.

 

Over the past ten months, when I had time, I slowly made my way through video recordings of parts of the 2025 Symposium that I was interested in. This post provides a very eclectic summary of my key take-aways from the “rest of the 2025 AFCPE Symposium.”

Money Mindsets- Relationships with money last an entire lifetime; actually longer via estate planning decisions that affect others. A good way to change a difficult money relationship is to flip the script. Example: “I’m bad with money” to “I’m working on my relationship with money.”

 

Heirs Property- This is where a property owner dies, heirs do not have a deed or will, and land or a home are underutilized. Someone pays property taxes but real property cannot be sold or borrowed against without clear title. The best solution is an honest family conversation about moving forward.

 

Youth Financial Education- Research has found lower credit card delinquency rates and better post-secondary education loan decisions linked to financial education graduation requirements. In addition, teachers’ finances are positively impacted by personal finance professional development.

 

Buy Now, Pay Later- BNPL, where payments for something are spread into future installments, is most attractive to young adults and people with income constraints. It can lead to overspending and impulse buying. Research found that BNPL use is associated with decreased long-term planning.

 

Trauma-Informed Financial Education- Trauma is not the same as stress, which tends to dissipate over time. Trauma sticks around. Financial trauma is caused by persistent financial instability and multiple negative experiences (e.g., homelessness, domestic abuse) result in complex trauma.

 

AI for Professionals- People who know how to use AI are valued. Benefits of AI include time savings, a “cool, trendy factor,” and brainstorming ideas and content. Cons include incorrect output called hallucinations, math errors, and environmental concerns (e.g., water, electricity, and noise).

 

Reverse Mortgages- 95% of borrowers still have equity in their homes when they pass away with a reverse mortgage (RM). At least one borrower must live in the home for six months and a day or a RM loan comes due. A RM line of credit is based on the age of the youngest borrower. Heirs of a RM house have three options: sell it, purchase it, or give the house to the lender and walk away.

 

Debt Relief Options- If it is not possible to repay existing debt, people have six debt relief options: 1. Direct negotiation with creditors, 2. Debt consolidation (refinancing), 3. A debt management plan (DMP) through a non-profit credit counseling agency, 4. Debt settlement, 5. Bankruptcy (Chapter 7 or 13), and 6. Debt forgiveness, where a debt is cancelled (e.g., Public Service Loan Forgiveness).

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

 

Take-Aways From a NGPF Virtual Conference

 

I recently attended parts of the 2026 Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) “Back to School” Virtual Conference. Keynote speaker Beth Kobliner discussed trends in personal finance from 1996, when she first wrote her book Get a Financial Life, to the 5^th edition available in 2026.

Yanely Espinal from NGPF led a breakout session about teaching about sports betting and prediction markets.

Below are some of my key take-aways:

 

Young Adult Personal Finance

 

New Book Topics- New topics in the 5^th edition of Get a Financial Life (and the world of personal finance) include social media influencers, online gambling and prediction markets, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) purchases, peer-to-peer (P2P) apps like Venmo and Zelle, and “frictionless’ payment methods (e.g., mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay) where people don’t feel the “pain” of spending money like they do when they pay with cash. Money in P2P apps is not FDIC-protected.

 

First-Time Homebuyer Age- In 1996, the average age of a first-time home buyer was 28 years old. In 2026, it is age 40. This means twelve fewer years of home equity building and a greater probability than previous generations of carrying mortgage debt into retirement.

 

Money Mindsets- People want quick cash without the preparation, work, and time needed to build wealth. This can lead to risky behavior by young adults (especially males) because so many things like housing seem out of reach. Ms. Kobliner also cautioned viewers not to buy sale items on a credit card with a higher APR% (interest) than the sale percentage off.

 

Sports Betting and Prediction Markets

 

Opportunity Cost- Gambling products are designed with a negative expected return for participants in the aggregate. The true cost of gambling is not just a losing bet but the compound interest on an investment that was never made. Research has found that young adults are redirecting money originally earmarked for investing into sports betting, thereby slowing possible wealth accumulation.

 

Normalized Behavior- Online gambling is a form of entertainment but not an investment strategy to build wealth. However, surveys have found that young adults normalize gambling because they believe it is a form of investing. With gambling, people take a risk on a chance-based outcome where loss is built in. With investing, people take a risk to own an asset that can potentially grow over time.

 

The House Edge- This is a casino’s or betting platform’s built-in mathematical advantage. Some people get lucky in the short-term, which encourages them to keep playing. However, the longer they play, the more the house edge eats away at their balance. Prediction markets want a high volume of bettors because they earn a percentage on each bet made.

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

 

Take-Aways From a Class About AI

During the past 3.5 years, I have used AI and taught about a dozen classes and webinars about AI use to both professional and consumer audiences. I also like to attend programs about AI to learn more myself. Below are eight take-aways from a recent AI class that I attended:

AI is Not Going Away- The genie is out of bottle, so to speak. AI is not going anywhere. Job security is a big concern but the biggest issue is not losing a job to AI, but losing a job to a person who knows how to use AI. There will continue to be less human interaction for business transactions. If people don’t get on board, they will be locked out.

 

The Two Sides of AI- AI can be both awe-full (i.e., a deep amazement of something that is very grand or powerful) and awful (i.e., very bad, ugly, or unpleasant). On the positive side, AI use enhances productivity and is like having a personal assistant. AI concerns include impacts on water and electricity and misuse by bad actors that program AI to do bad things.

 

AI Improvements- When the generative AI program ChatGPT launched in November 22, it was basically a one-way experience. Users posted a query or directions to create something via a prompt and received a response. Flash forward to today and AI is holding conversations with its users, often suggesting extensions of the content that was initially requested.

 

Sobering Comparison- The class presenter compared the potential for AI misuse to another frightening discovery, the creation and use of the atomic bomb during World War II. Both have the potential for severe consequences if misused.

 

AI Characteristics- Users need to know that AI can hallucinate. This is where it produces content that seems well-written but is incorrect. In addition, AI output may contain biases such as racism, agism, and misogyny. Therefore, AI content must always be reviewed by a subject matter expert. AI also tends to be sycophantic and agree with what others have said, instead of offering challenges.

 

AI Availability- Unlike human workers, AI is available 24/7/365. It never takes vacations or retires. Some free AI platforms cut users off for a day or so after excessive use within a short period of time. Some people like AI (vs. a human agent) for financial questions because they don’t need to feel ashamed to ask a “dumb question.”

 

AI Summaries- AI can be used to summarize books and articles. Just include in the prompt the link for a specific publication.  AI can also be used to summarize email exchanges and online Zoom calls (with meeting notes). Some people also use AI for medical research so they can have a more informed interaction with their doctor.

 

Other AI Uses- AI uses that were mentioned include 1. Providing data about people and searching for an obituary to find out if they died, 2. Creating recipes from food on hand, 3. Summarizing a book, play, or movie, 4. Using AI as a companion to stimulate conversation (AI will respond and ask you questions), 5. Creating letters, emails, and poems for personal or professional use, and 6. Creating personalized graphics like the one for me above.

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.