How long do you want live? 80, 90, 100?

Both of my grandmothers lived past 95 so I'm going for 100.  At 67 I've had 2 total knee replacements, and just retired from teaching.  I walk regularly, exercise at least 3 times a week, and enjoy yoga.  I have 4 kids and 8 grandkids and have been happily married for 47 years to my grade school sweetheart.  I would say I have been, and continue to be blessed with each new day.  If God calls me home before I'm 100 it's because my grandmas don't want me to break their record and want me to enjoy an even fuller life with them!

For me, this is a very complex question!  I am 71 and have been living with an advanced cancer that is considered "terminal" for over 13 years, which means 13 plus years of cancer treatment.  Though the cancer is fairly well controlled right now, I am tired!  Not an easy way to live.  I've done well enough to be considered an "exceptional responder".  My mother died from a different cancer at 69 and a year later my father, who had always been in extremely good health, had a major stroke and went on to spend the last 18 years of his life in a wheel chair with right side paralisis and unable to speak more than saying "yes" and "no", usually accurately.  It did not take long for me to realize that my mother had gotten the better deal!  My dad's family has been long lived for generations, with ancestors living unto their 90s and 100s in the 1700s.  My grandmother lived to be 102 after having been in a clinical trial for cancer in her 70s in the 1950s.  She still planted a small garden well into her 80s but the last ten years of her life, she had alot of cognative decline.  It's hard for me to imagine feeling well enough past 80 myself to make living enjoyable.  I have learned alot about what is truly important in my life and how to live in the moment.  I have to work at it to stay mobile and I can't travel as much as I had hoped to.  I am highly motivated to live long enough to vote in the 2020 Presidential election!  That is the thing outside my family that motivates me the most these days.  

If I could  ever get my heath in order, I wouldn't mind living to a nice "young" age of maybe 90-95.  I am insulent intolerent, have high blood pressure, and high cholestrol.    And by medical standards I am obesse.  Unless I can get this all under control, I can't see myself living past retirement.  I am 62 years "young" now, my dad passed away at age 67, 32 years ago.  My sweet momma just passed this past August.  She was 95 years young, but had demencia in her last year.  So, at this point, I will take what the Good Lord gives me...

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@AARPTeri wrote:

Do you have a number in mind? Do you want to live to be 80, 90 or 100? How about 115 or 120?

Do you think it matters what your expectations are? I do. I think if you expect to live a long healthy life, your chances of doing so are greater.

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@AARPTeri wrote:

Do you have a number in mind? Do you want to live to be 80, 90 or 100? How about 115 or 120?

Do you think it matters what your expectations are? I do. I think if you expect to live a long healthy life, your chances of doing so are greater.

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I'm a very active healthy 62 year old now. I'm was widowed at 54 but I am in a long term relationship with a lovely man.  Everyone in my family lives in their 90's.  It seems that the women in my family stay cognitively sharp and healthy until they have one big heart attack. The men seem to suffer from dementia. I don't want to live like that at all.  I would rather be healthy and live less then end up in a nursing facility with dementia.  

That question is impossible to answer without a functional crystal ball.  Right now, I consider myself a healthy, slightly overweight, cognitively intact 69 year old female. My life consists of endless obligations since my husband is in a Nursing facility with a rare form of dementia (age 82). I must sell my home in order to survive financially, as well as having no help with up-keep of the property. Our only son and grandchild live 2,000 miles away. My friends have their own lives and problems. How long do I want to live "like this?" Probably until I get to the point where I can no longer handle my own affairs, and by then maybe science will stop trying to prolong life in years rather than in quality!!

 As for me it's not the quantity of life about the quality of it. As long as I am relatively if physically healthy, able to be independent, able to be mobile, and have a clear mind Reasonably good cognitive abilities then I want to live.   At the point that any of the aforementioned are no longer true, then it's time for me to make the decision to stop medical intervention and allow nature to take it's natural course.

 As for me it's not the quantity of life about the quality of it. As long as I am relatively if physically healthy, able to be independent, able to be mobile, and have a clear mind Reasonably good cognitive abilities then I want to live.   At the point that any of the aforementioned are no longer true, then it's time for me to make the decision to stop medical intervention and allow nature to take it's natural course.

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@AARPTeri wrote:

Do you have a number in mind? Do you want to live to be 80, 90 or 100? How about 115 or 120?

Do you think it matters what your expectations are? I do. I think if you expect to live a long healthy life, your chances of doing so are greater.

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I want to live to a healthy 100plus .  I believe positive expectations matter.  Also important is taking charge and LEADING your life, controlling what is within your control - how you eat, exercise, and continue to learn.  I focus on extending youth rather than extending old age.

I would like to enjoy living and contributing to life on Earth as long as I am not in continual or debilitating pain, I am mobile, and particularly as long as my mind and eyes function well.  For me, that is not a number, rather, I aspire to an easy passing when the time comes to the Great Spirit, Allah,  and by any other name or verballization, God.