On rare occasions, I read something so insightful that I feel compelled to share it with the readers of this blog. Today’s article is an example of one such occasion.
On October 26th, I was reading Dan Haylett’s weekly newsletter, The Retirement Fix (click to subscribe, it’s one of my “must-reads” every week). I was so inspired by the feature article that I immediately sent an email to Dan, asking if he’d mind if I shared the entire article as a guest post on this blog. Fortunately, he agreed. (If you were paying attention last week, I hinted that you’d see something from Dan….this is what I was hinting at.)
Today, we’re featuring one of my favorite retirement “creators”, Dan Haylett, with an article that I hope inspires you as much as it did me.
Dan Haylett’s article so inspired me that I asked him if I could share it with you as a guest post. Fortunately, he agreed. Share on X
Every week, there’s another headline celebrating our growing longevity.
“Life expectancy hits record high!”
“The average person can now expect to live well into their 80s!”
Cue the stock photo: two perfectly tanned retirees holding hands on a beach, laughing like they’ve just remembered where they left their pensions.
It’s a nice story. But it’s only half true.
Yes, we’re living longer. But we’re also dying slower.
The Hidden Gap No One Talks About
Over the past 30 years, global life expectancy has jumped by more than six years. That sounds great… until you look beneath the surface.
The World Health Organisation calls it the “health-adjusted life expectancy,” or in plain English, how long we live in good health.
And here’s where it gets alarming.
While life expectancy keeps rising, healthy life expectancy isn’t keeping up.
That gap, the years we live in poor health, has widened to an average of 10–12 years in most developed nations.
- In the US, it’s 12.4 years.
- Australia: 12.2 years.
- New Zealand: 11.8 years.
- UK: 11.3 years.
That’s more than a decade of life spent managing chronic illness, pain, or disability, often fuelled by diseases of affluence rather than poverty.
And ironically, that gap is smaller in some low-income countries. Lesotho’s is 6.4 years. Somalia’s 6.7.
Not because people there are healthier, but because they don’t have the same access to healthcare that can prolong life once it’s already fragile.
In wealthy nations, modern medicine has extended our lifespan, but our lifestyles have quietly eroded our healthspan.
The Longevity Paradox
It’s one of the strangest contradictions in human history.
We’ve never known more about nutrition, movement, and mental health, yet we’re more sedentary, more stressed, and more medicated than ever.
According to Public Health England, over 40% of adults live with at least one long-term health condition. The NHS reports that nearly two-thirds of over-65s take five or more prescription medications daily.
We are, quite literally, keeping people alive longer than their bodies can cope with.
And while we often talk about adding years to life, we’ve done a poor job of adding life to those years.
As researcher, physician and author of the great book Outlive, Peter Attia puts it:
“Medicine 2.0 is great at treating disease. Medicine 3.0 will be about preventing it, and extending healthspan, not just lifespan.”
The Myth of the ‘Good Long Life’
When I talk to retirees, many tell me they’ve “got a long retirement to fund.” And they’re right… but only partly.
What most people don’t realize is that only a portion of those years are likely to be spent in the state they’re imagining — travelling, socializing, volunteering, playing golf, and generally thriving.
Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that the average Brit reaches peak happiness in retirement around age 70, and by 75, satisfaction starts to decline, mainly due to deteriorating health and mobility.
So while we imagine a 30-year retirement, the truth is that the fully active phase may last just 10–15 years.
That’s not morbid. That’s reality, and it should shape how we plan.
Medicine Keeps Us Alive Longer. Lifestyle Makes Us Unwell Sooner.
Our ancestors didn’t have Fitbit data, probiotics, or gym memberships. They also didn’t spend eight hours a day sitting, snacking, and scrolling.
Today, we live in an environment where convenience trumps vitality:
- Diet: We eat roughly 500 more calories a day than we did in the 1970s.
- Movement: The average Brit walks less than half a mile per day (ONS).
- Sleep: Nearly a third of adults sleep under six hours a night.
- Connection: Loneliness now affects more over-50s than diabetes.
In short: modern life is extending our years but shrinking our quality of them.
We’re surviving longer… but not living longer.
What This Means for Retirement Planning
The myth of longevity has warped how we plan for life after work.
We obsess over not running out of money, but ignore the risk of running out of health.
We build spreadsheets to model 30-year retirements, but forget that many of those years might not be active or independent.
And we talk endlessly about return on investment (ROI), but rarely about return on vitality (ROV).
When I work with clients, I often say:
“Don’t plan to die at 95 — plan to live well until 85.”
That subtle shift changes everything: how you spend, how you travel, how you eat, and what you prioritise.
Healthspan Planning Is the New Retirement Planning
True retirement planning isn’t just about cash flow and investment returns. It’s about maximising the years when you can actually enjoy what you’ve built.
That means investing in:
- Physical health — strength, balance, and movement.
- Cognitive health — learning, curiosity, and challenge.
- Emotional health — purpose, connection, and belonging.
Because adding years to your life means nothing if you’re not adding life to your years.
And that’s why healthspan planning is the new retirement planning.
Reflection of the Week
If you knew your “healthy years” might run out 15 years before your “total years,” what would you do differently now?
Would you spend more on experiences and less on things?
Would you prioritize health as much as wealth?
Would you build your plan around the best years, not just the most years?
Because here’s the truth: You can’t buy more time…but you can spend it better.
Note from Fritz: I hope you enjoy Dan’s insights as much as I do. This article was originally featured in the October 26th edition of his weekly newsletter, The Retirement Fix.
Your Turn: What do you think of Dan’s thought that “Healthspan planning is the new retirement planning?” Personally, I think he’s on to something, and that’s why I wanted to share his post with you. Are you doing anything in your life to increase your focus on Healthspan? Let’s chat in the comments…
