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Would anybody like to live till they are 150.

(47 Posts)
HUNTERF Mon 11-Mar-13 20:40:04

http://him.uk.msn.com/in-the-know/red-wine-drug-live-to-150-but-i-dont-want-to

I would not mind if I am in good health till that age.
My father said it seemed strange when I became a granddad and my granddaughters only called my father Granddad and I was Uncle Frank.

merlotgran Mon 11-Mar-13 21:05:11

After the day I've just had with a social care manager hanging up on me because I disagreed with her 'assumption' that my mother's care needs are being met....they're not, the answer is an emphatic NO.

Lilygran Mon 11-Mar-13 21:16:32

No!

glassortwo Mon 11-Mar-13 21:25:38

If being a 150 feels like I have this last week no I dont think I will bother.

Notso Mon 11-Mar-13 21:28:55

My target's always been 102.

Greatnan Mon 11-Mar-13 22:08:38

If I could continue as I am, yes, I would love another 50 years in NZ! Providing my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and probably great-great-grandchildren all live as well.

Ana Mon 11-Mar-13 22:23:14

Frank, I think it's strange that your granddaughters called you Uncle Frank as well...confused

Galen Mon 11-Mar-13 22:43:33

I think 95 will be long enough for me, and only then if I can get rid of my lower limb pain. If not tomorrow will be fine!

annodomini Mon 11-Mar-13 22:44:27

Only if a cure or prevention has been found for dementia. Also osteoporosis and various forms of arthritis.

Eloethan Mon 11-Mar-13 23:54:33

People's views as to what age they want to live to tend to change as they approach said age. I can imagine some circumstances though when I would probably want to call it a day.

absent Tue 12-Mar-13 06:51:05

No.

HUNTERF Tue 12-Mar-13 07:33:04

I have no permanent health problems and I do not take any permanent tablets and my father was not on any permanent tablets until the last few months of his life.
I am on very good terms with my family so I want to live as long as possible.
I certainly want to meet my great grandchildren.

Frank

Mamie Tue 12-Mar-13 07:58:44

No.
I am grateful for being born in 1949, not having had to fight a war, having profited from the NHS, the expansion of higher education and the liberation of women. I am grateful for a happy marriage, a rewarding career, a comfortable income and wonderful children and grandchildren.
I would hate to live on, consuming more than my fair share of the world's resources, outliving my friends and family and becoming a drain on society.
Frankly if I died tomorrow I would feel that I had been richly blessed, but another twenty years would be nice.

Mamie Tue 12-Mar-13 08:37:00

Interesting programme on French tele at the moment. At the moment in France there are nine working people supporting four retired. By 2040 there will be nine working supporting seven retired.
Sorry bit inelegant, but I am translating!

HUNTERF Tue 12-Mar-13 08:48:07

Hi Mamie

I do not agree that working people support the retired.
I paid into 2 occupational schemes, sacrificed all my bonuses paid AVC'S and I have paid National Insurance for the state pension I will hopefully get.
My father passed away when he was nearly 90 last year and was in a similar position.
My father outlived most of his friends but was still loved by his family.

Frank

Ella46 Tue 12-Mar-13 08:58:28

I can think of nothing worse than living another 80 odd years in this greedy culture.

Mamie Tue 12-Mar-13 09:05:06

Likewise Frank. Two full pensions, plus AVCs. Nevertheless I don't think that the amount I paid in was intended to fund 90 years of retirement, plus health costs, sustaining and developing infrastructure of the country etc etc

granjura Tue 12-Mar-13 09:11:10

Totally agree Mamie, I feel just the same.

I just love life, but we have to take turns smile

dorsetpennt Tue 12-Mar-13 09:13:54

My grandfather lived into his late 80's - mostly in excellent health. He used to say the worst thing about growing old was seeing family and friends die.
During WW1 he was an officer in the Royal Corps. As a child I remember when he went to their annual reunion parties - he always came home with a silly smile on his face and his coat buttoned up incorrectly smile. In the 1970s he stopped going as every year someone would be missing. The first few years there would be one member missing, but towards the end several.
By the time he died two of the people he loved the most, my mother and my grandmother, had died several years in the past. If you lived to 150 can you imagine how many people you'd lose.

Elegran Tue 12-Mar-13 09:17:10

Yes, hunter, you paid in all that. But at the time you were paying it in, your parents' generation were receiving a pension. Where do you think that came from, the fairies? No, it came from the people who were paying it in - you, and your generation. Pension schemes can't print money, they have to have cash flow, in and out. There is some elastic, but it is not everlasting.

When DH took early retirement was made suddenly redundant, and the firm then went bust, the pension scheme had to be taken over by an insurance firm and what there was in it carefully invested so that it would continue to keep the ex-employees in their old age when no-one was paying ahything in any more.

annsixty Tue 12-Mar-13 09:22:20

My Mother was nearly 102 when she died so I would have to say no. She was mentally as alert as she always had been but her quality of life was declining for a couple of years .Her sight was failing, her hearing was very poor and she was losing interest even in the family,so quality before quantity for me everytime.

Lilygran Tue 12-Mar-13 09:45:54

I thought this thread would deteriorate into one of Frank's political assertions. Do you know, Frank, that the contributions made by employees and employers into occupational pensions in the public sector are not always invested? They are actually taken by whatever government is in power and the pensions are paid out of contributions - possibly or possibly just out of the general purse. We all pay to support pensioners and as I'm a taxpayer and a pensioner, I'm paying to support myself. You may not know this either, but the road tax we pay isn't used to repair or build roads. And the income from National Insurance is nowhere near enough to cover the costs of the NHS.

Faye Tue 12-Mar-13 10:52:26

I have always wonder what people are thinking when they have their bodies frozen. By the time they think they might come back they probably would have no friends or family still living and no home and no money. confused A bit of....Death Becomes Her.

Mishap Tue 12-Mar-13 11:22:57

merlot - I really am so sorry that you are having these problems. I cannot imagine what it must be like - what a dreadful worry for you. I share your concern that it is just not possible to have an elderly parent in hospital or residential home and be able to relax and know that they are being well cared for. It really should not be like this. Do keep up the pressure - even though this simply should not be necessary.

It is akin to the problems that parents of children with special needs have - talk to any of them and they say the worst thing is battling with the very services that are meant to be helping them.

Would I like to live to 150? - certainly if I could spend that time as fit as I was when I was 30. Otherwise no thanks!

Joan Tue 12-Mar-13 12:11:18

Of course I would like to live to 150 as long as I'm pain free and compos mentis. I'm curious - I always want to know what happens next, in science, society, my family... I want to read books and watch drama and write stories. I would not eat very much or cost very much - I'd need a garden to walk in, bed, a chair, a telly, a kindle, a computer, and my glasses.