There’s quite a debate occurring in this country on both health care and financial reform. While everyone has an opinion, one of the most critical elements is recognizing that we all have to do a better job of taking care of ourselves, personally and financially, as well as be more accountable and responsible.

As a longevity expert, this is an issue of great concern to me.  So few people really understand how long they’re likely going to live, let alone, the financial ramifications of living long lives. Unfortunately, it’s no surprise most people don’t know these facts, because we’re not educating Americans about it.

When I first started in this field in 1978, not only did I know this was my life’s work, but more importantly, I realized this longevity story was something every single person and business needed to hear or we were headed for disaster. But there were only five people in my graduating class, so it was clearly evident there was a lot of work to be done by a very small number of people.

So here we are now, thirty plus years later and really no closer to a better understanding of this concept. While we’ve done a great job medically and scientifically enabling people to live longer, healthier lives, as members of this society, we are not advancing at the same rate to ensure we do our part to increase our health and wealth-spans to match this increased lifespan.

It may seem hard to believe to that with all the information bombarding us daily about health and wellness, we’re still not getting it. It’s not that we don’t know what we should be doing; it’s more that we’re not doing what we know we should be doing. That’s the problem and concern to me, and should be to our entire population – citizens and government alike.

Believe it or not, actuaries who project life expectancy, indicate that for the first time ever, we’re heading toward a time where we may go backward in life expectancy before we go forward. There’s only one reason for this, and that’s lifestyle. We’re not making proper lifestyle choices in this country and it’s high time we face this reality, take responsibility for it, and turn this train around or we’re headed for a train wreck of mass destruction. This is every American’s problem to solve, not just the government’s or health care’s -- we’re all in this together.

As one who analyzes trends like these, it’s utterly preposterous to think that we could even be at this juncture after all the time, money, scientific and medical breakthroughs that have contributed to increased longevity in the first place. But perhaps it’s actually because of these extraordinary healthcare advances, that now everybody thinks they can just annihilate their bodies and expects the health care system to fix it.

It’s not health care’s job to take care of us, it’s our job to take care of us, and the sooner we all realize this and adhere to it, the better off this country will be. Certainly access to proper health care is essential, but it should be more about prevention and the effort we each need to make in getting proper nutrition, exercise, socialization, etc. into our daily lives. This is where a major focus of health care reform really needs to be.

Our current health care system is more focused on treating disease than keeping it at bay. We need far more focus on wellness and prevention – which frankly seems to be getting completely lost in this health care reform movement. It’s far more expensive to treat disease and health when it’s in a crisis, critical state, versus taking the necessary steps to prevent it in the first place.

Financially, we’re no better off. And it’s not just because of the recent economic downturn -- most Americans have been spending way beyond their means and the savings rate is at its lowest since the Depression. Additionally, too few people realize that the estimated healthcare costs for today’s retirees and those Boomers planning to retire at 65, is on average $250K -– just to cover medical expenses in retirement. (USA Today 3/25/10 study by Fidelity Investements)

We have a lot of work to do in this country, all of us, but we must recognize there is no road map here -- we’ve never been down this street before. The good news is, we’re becoming more aware of the issues, and that’s the best place to start.

Reform is going to have to involve more than just health care, it’s got to start with our thinking and how we all look at our entire lives. We need to educate people about longevity and help everyone understand that 70% of the aging process today is based on lifestyle, while only 30% is genetics. We must do a better job in planning financially for long lives, and get back to the basics of living within our means and saving better too.

While living life is an education in itself, I’ve long advocated that we must get these concepts into the school system, and the sooner we do, the better off this country and everyone in it will be. The topic needs to be addressed as Life Planning, as this will encompass all the issues affecting health and wealth over a lifetime. We have Life Coaches, now we need to expand their repertoire and/or add Health Coaches and Money Coaches to the mix, to ensure everybody has the proper knowledge and understanding as to how to live their best life, responsibly.

That’s the kind of reform this country really needs.

Kelly Ferrin, gerontologist and author of “What’s Age Got To Do With It? Secrets to Aging in Extraordinary Ways” has been studying aging and retirement issues for over 25 years. She was one of the first to ever receive a degree in this field from the prestigious Andrus School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, the top school in the nation for age-related studies.

website: kellyferrin.com ••• email: ageangel@earthlink.net