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- Centenarians shared their beingness advice, emphasizing semipermanent investments and staying active.
- They stressed maintaining societal connections and a youthful mindset for longevity.
- The U.S. has astir 98,000 centenarians, with projections of 421,000 by 2054.
Americans who person made it to 100 years old person seen a lot: the Great Depression, the satellite landing, 16 presidents, and the ups and downs of 2025.
Five centenarians — radical who are astatine slightest 100 years old — told Business Insider that beingness keeps getting amended successful the triple digits, and shared their proposal for a palmy beingness and retirement. This included dilatory and deliberate investments, keeping busy nevertheless they could, maintaining friendships, and, arsenic 1 enactment it, "thinking young."
Though these centenarians said they aren't arsenic disquieted astir wealth arsenic overmuch present that they're surviving with their children oregon grandchildren oregon successful an assisted surviving facility, astir stressed the value of patience, giving to charity, and redeeming cautiously for the precise agelong term.
Census colonisation estimates from July 2024 amusement astir 98,000 centenarians successful the US, astir 75% of whom are women. This fig has astir tripled since 1990. The Census Bureau projects implicit 421,000 Americans to beryllium astatine slightest 100 years aged by 2054, making up 0.1% of the US population.
Financial proposal from centenarians
The astir important financial advice the centenarians shared was redeeming immoderate they could and letting it turn implicit time.
Jack Weber, 101, said 1 of the keys to his financial success was concern for the agelong word utilizing excess funds, which he's readying to usage to assistance his descendants. Weber, a Navy seasoned who spent overmuch of his beingness arsenic a dentist, retired successful 1984 aft gathering a palmy signifier and investing successful existent estate, astatine 1 constituent paying mortgages connected 3 houses.
"The banal marketplace goes up and down today. We're successful a unspeakable downturn successful the market. But successful the agelong run, implicit galore years, the banal marketplace ever goes up," said Weber, who lives connected Long Island.
Weber said starting tiny with investments is the mode to go, adding radical shouldn't spell to the slope and enactment their wealth successful a savings relationship that lone gets 2% interest.
"Put it successful a bully coagulated stock, and a communal money is astir apt your champion bet," Weber said, acknowledging that younger generations person faced much challenges buying a home.
Margaret Vaccaro, 102, added that having patience leads to amended long-term fiscal outcomes. Vaccaro worked for overmuch of her vocation successful healthcare finance, including a 25-year stint arsenic a certified manager of diligent accounts astatine a large hospital.
Though she lives astatine an assisted surviving installation successful Peekskill, New York, Vaccaro inactive manages donations for the installation arsenic a volunteer, penning letters to residents' contacts to rise wealth and overseeing vacation funds for non-management employees.
"If you ticker your pennies, if you ticker what you do, past erstwhile you request the dollars for a downpayment connected that location oregon for a caller car, you've got them," Vaccaro said.
While Helen Juanita Glover's precocious hubby of 85 years handled their finances, she present lives connected her pension and Social Security. Glover said she's recovered fulfilment passim by giving wealth not saved for bills to her religion and assorted charities.
"I don't deliberation astir inheriting oregon getting wealth and what I'm going to bash with it," Glover, 107, said. "I deliberation of who I'm going to springiness it to."
Staying engaged and active
The centenarians stressed that they ever had thing to bash and had thing to strive toward, from penning a publication to volunteering part-time. All discussed challenges specified arsenic outliving loved ones, and they've each discovered intent done staying active.
Barbara Fleischman, 101, inactive invites friends implicit for meals, stays up to day connected existent events, and said she can't "just beryllium still." Fleischman, who spent her vocation volunteering with taste institutions successful New York, said the cardinal to enjoying beingness a period successful has been "making things amended and much interesting," continuing to situation herself with radical from each generations.
"I'm trying to larn thing each day, and it's a precise large challenge," Fleischman said.
Diane Volz, 102, spends hours each time penning her beingness story, which she hopes to stock with younger generations. She spearheads a publication club, reads newspapers daily, and stays connected apical of politics, not excessively antithetic from her vocation successful journalism. She besides inactive dances successful her bedroom, overmuch similar she did arsenic a dancer for MGM — wherever she had a cameo successful "Meet Me successful St. Louis."
Weber packs his days with golf, swimming, and value grooming — thing helium tin to "not beryllium successful an armchair." After his wife's decease 20 years ago, helium committed to "get backmost into beingness again" alternatively of grieving, serving arsenic the president of his area's Lions Club, driving to the market store, and sharing stories with others astir his life.
After getting bored during the pandemic, helium authored a memoir starring up to his 100th day astir achieving a meaningful life, and he's starring successful the upcoming documentary "Lessons From 100" changeable by his grandson.
"You can't springiness up. You've got to combat and enactment with it," Weber said.
Maintaining beardown societal circles
Though astir of the centenarians said they've outlived their friends, galore emphasized the value of staying connected with household oregon seeking retired younger friends and radical searching for guidance.
Glover said she's coped with nonaccomplishment by seeking retired connections astatine her church. Much similar however she gave backmost to her religion by teaching abrogation book schoolhouse and serving arsenic an organist, she said galore springiness backmost to her. After her lad died successful February, she moved from California to North Carolina with her granddaughter and has committed to "starting a caller life" astatine 107. She's adjusting to her caller religion and community, which has taken her successful with unfastened arms. She said younger radical astatine her religion telephone her "Auntie Helen."
Fleischman agreed that "If the assemblage has been bully to you, you springiness backmost to the community." Fleischman said she's maintained beardown societal networks astatine her assisted living facility, regularly contacts radical astatine museums and libraries to springiness talks, and acts arsenic a enactment strategy to others successful immoderate mode she can.
The cardinal is to beryllium "supportive, to listen, and to care," Fleischman said, adding she's recovered joyousness successful surrounding herself with friends crossed generations.
For Weber, sometimes the quiescent of his location is astir fulfilling, acknowledging helium wouldn't similar being surrounded by strangers astatine a facility. His household often invites him to gatherings, portion he's recovered connections astatine the Lions Club, delivering Thanksgiving baskets successful caller years.
Weber said the world of aging is being "the past 1 standing," adding that he's mislaid his bully friends and that "time hangs dense connected your hands."
Both Weber and Volz stressed the value of falling successful emotion with something, whether it's a important other, a career, oregon a beingness path. Volz said ignoring antagonistic radical and uncovering comfortableness successful idiosyncratic oregon thing has driven her to enactment happy.
'Thinking young'
Weber said his determination to "think young" has driven him to support pushing astatine 101 — and enactment similar he's overmuch younger.
"Don't fto the aged antheral in," Weber said, adding helium owns a achromatic sweater with the operation connected it. He said it's empowered him to support doing the physical and intelligence activities.
Though his muscles aren't similar they utilized to be, helium stressed feeling "like a cardinal bucks" and refusing to follow a "can't bash this oregon can't bash that" mentality has fueled him.
"I consciousness I'm precise fortunate and fortunate to beryllium successful bully wellness and dependable mind," Weber said. "Do I person immoderate aches and pains? I definite do, but I don't speech astir them and I don't fto them tally my life. I'm inactive successful bully capable wellness that I tin inactive bask my rounds of golf."
Vaccaro added that she ever focuses connected what she'd "like to bash tomorrow" alternatively of connected the past. She inactive embraces being a parent arsenic though she were successful her 30s, and she's continued doing what she feels is close and authentic.
Glover wakes up each greeting reasoning arsenic though she's "20 years younger," uncovering it "weird" she's outlived immoderate of her loved ones. A "pleasant smile" goes a agelong way, she said, and she's embraced being arsenic autarkic arsenic she tin to consciousness youthful. She inactive plays Scrabble with her grandchildren, tells knock-knock jokes to her friends, and starts each time with a donut.
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