As I get older, I am appreciating the effects of developing healthy habits. After doing cursory reading, it seems to me like a person who eats well, sleeps well, has a good community around them and controls stress can outlive someone by quite margin. I would throw out a guess that someone with 1 sigma of better of habits in all 4 departments than avg (in the US) can outlive someone who is 1 sigma worse by 10-20 years.
Another way I see it is that today is the youngest I will ever be. And therefore my body and health function will necessarily decrease over time, and more noticeably in my 40's and 50's, and the 2nd derivative will also increase over time. And as this happens, my health will be of greater and greater importance to me. People with declining health would nearly given anything for better functionality and have very little use for wealth.
Hopefully, I can take away a few things from this which is 1. to spend a little more time with my parents, and 2. to pay more attention to healthier habits. I've usually done fine in the eating department though I could sleep better and give more attention to stress management and the community around me. In terms of stress and work, if I can decrease stress and add a couple of years of both lifespan and healthspan, the couple years of compounding will also add to wealth, so there there's not even a whole lot of sacrifice.
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