Richer and more optimistic
Existence is getting longer, and this is nothing new The years a citizen of the European Union can expect to live are, on average, more than 80.
Italy, second in the ranking after Spain, “gives” 81 years to men and 85 to women. Not to mention centenarians: in Milan, they have tripled in 18 years. In Great Britain, the tradition is for the queen to send a letter of congratulations to those who turn a century old, and it seems that lately, the task has become quite onerous for her.
ITALIAN OPTIMISM
But this is not the case for everyone. Giorgio Michetti, a Tuscan painter, is 104 years old and has become a YouTube expert in teaching young people how to draw. But there are also those who, in so many years, find time to be bored. Such is the case of Australian scientist David Goodall, 104 years old, healthy as a horse, but tired of living.
Those who do not get tired of living (indeed) are the super rich: surely money has the power to make everything sweeter, even old age. And foster optimism. According to the UBS Investor Watch, research carried out by the well-known Swiss bank on holders of large assets, 66 % of wealthy Italian investors expect to make it to age 100 (women hope to get there in 76 % of cases). More optimistic than Italians are only Germans (76 %), similar percentages in Switzerland and Mexico, significantly lower in the United Kingdom (32 %) and the United States (30 %).
INVESTMENT IN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
The first consequence of predicting longevity is the concern of incurring increased health care costs (47 % of the sample), the second that of seeing a lowering of living standards while maintaining wealth (40 %), and the third that of having to work harder to have the same quality of life in retirement (37 %).
With a view to “long life,” Italian paperonians invest in health and wellness: medical checkups, health insurance, gyms, personal trainers and supplements. More than a third of the wealthy under 50 invest more than 10 thousand euros a year in this area.
Holders of assets of 10 million euros spend up to three times as much on care as other investors. And they would be willing to sacrifice as much as 50 % of their assets to live ten years longer.
79% of the wealthiest believe that working prolongs life and say they are willing to do it as long as they are able. However, this does not prevent them from working in a more balanced way, such as resting during vacations and weekends. Only a minority, however, say they consider sabbaticals.
INVESTMENT, CAUTION PREVAILS
But how do people invest from at least a 30-year perspective? The super rich Italians are focusing on bonds (48 % of the sample), real estate (33 %), cash (28 %) and private equity and hedge funds (24 %).
Finally, there is an increasing number of those who plan to bequeath their wealth (or part of it) while they are still alive, not only to their children but also to their grandchildren, to avoid heirs coming into possession of assets when they too have become too old. In contrast to Queen Elizabeth who, at 92 years old and with 66 years of reign, remains well attached to the “chair.”
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