[AnotherUnixGeek]

I never understood the desire to live so long. Most of our atoms are replaced every 20 years or so, so we're not the same that we were anyway, and nobody we know is either.

There's a single, continuous thread of consciousness running on top of that matrix of ever-changing atoms, though, which is the point for most of us. I'd like the option to live that long, and I'd especially like the option to avoid all of the disease and afflictions that come with aging.

If you put $1 into a bank account paying 5% interest, you'll have $1,546,318,920,731,950,000,000 to spend in the year 1000.

The economic impact of increasing age limits is mostly ignored, since human lifespan is increasing at a relatively slow rate. But the 21st century is likely to see some big breakthroughs in longevity - I have no idea what it'll mean for concepts like compounded interest, retirement, medical insurance, etc.

[ThinkDifferent]

There's a single, continuous thread of consciousness running on top of that matrix of ever-changing atoms, though, which is the point for most of us. I'd like the option to live that long, and I'd especially like the option to avoid all of the disease and afflictions that come with aging.

Exactly.

The economic impact of increasing age limits is mostly ignored, since human lifespan is increasing at a relatively slow rate. But the 21st century is likely to see some big breakthroughs in longevity - I have no idea what it'll mean for concepts like compounded interest, retirement, medical insurance, etc.

Ultimately, the concept of permanent retirement would go away completely, and with it old-age programs like Social Security. That's one of several reasons I expect anti-aging research would pay for itself many times over.