How would we pay for pensions if life expectancy rises sharply?
This fear comes from looking at an extended lifespan through the lens of our current biology. Ever since Otto von Bismarck introduced the first state pension in 1889, retirement has been a medical necessity: we work until body and mind decline, and then we rest because we simply have to. But imagine you had the physical and mental energy of a healthy 30-year-old for centuries. Sitting in an armchair for decades would then not feel like a well-deserved retirement. It would be downright mind-numbing.
In a world that has left biological aging behind, the linear model of life - learning, working, declining and dying - will have had its day. Instead, phases of work and rest will alternate. People will probably work for a few decades, build wealth through compound interest and then take longer breaks. During these phases, you could travel the world, start another family or go back to university to learn a completely new profession before returning to working life. Rather, we trade the one, final retirement at the end of life for many lively mini-retirements spread across an unlimited life. And since the AI revolution will also take over a large part of our routine and unpleasant tasks, work will increasingly turn into a fulfilling activity - and no longer be a daily grind that we want to escape from.
At the same time, this model solves the looming global pension crisis. Social security and health care systems are so expensive today not because there are many old people, but because there are many frail people. Once medicine has eliminated this frailty, the associated costs will fall drastically. Instead of being a permanent burden on the welfare state, older generations will remain fully capable and actively contribute prosperity and productivity to society - regardless of how long ago they were born.
External links on pensions (all in English)