I saw a term, I think it was in the Wall Street Journal about health spans, not life spans and I became immediately interested. As I get closer to my retirement age, that is not mandatory retirement, but early retirement I think very much about early retirement.

In Australia, the age pension is paid at age 67, that is if you are eligible. When I say eligible, I mean not having enough funds saved to support yourself so the federal government pays a pension. However, if your assets or income is too high, the pension is either reduced or not paid at all. Regardless, even if you are short of funds, spend what you have in your early years and rely on the age pension from 67 onwards. A retirement plan only needs to last 7 years, so enjoy those years.

So for an individual who is not eligible for the age pension anyway with excess assets, why hold out until age 67 when you can retire at age 60 and enjoy the early years when you are most active anyway. If you can burn down your retirement funds in the first 7 years, by the time you hit 67, you have already had a good run. You then claim either a partial, or full age pension payment in many cases based on baby boomers and Gen X who never had the advantage of a full working life superannuation accumulation.

Lifespan is the total number of years a person lives, whilst healthspan is the period spent in good health that is free from chronic disease or a serious disability. This is important to me as I age and push close to 60 years of age. Retiring early whilst my healthspan is peaking, I suspect between 60 and 70 gives me ten years to travel and enjoy physical activities. I am looking to maximise my health span and enjoy the early phase of retirement when I am most active and mobile. I will not be sitting around the house watching tv, I want to be out hiking and engaging in lifestyle activities.