Why I built this
I just turned 47. Everyone in my college WhatsApp groups has worked out a retirement number, or is quietly working one out. Just reading this sentence might have popped a number in your head. One million or five or maybe higher. Of course, in dollars or whatever currency you trade your time with. However, not one of us has a number for how long we'll be able to look after ourselves, and that's the one I'd rather we had.
- 18 September 2026 I did not read all the papers Longevity biomarkers get all the airtime. Decades of research on whether you can still get off the floor at 85 does not. Here is what that research says, and an honest account of how I found it.
- 12 September 2026 The retirement number we don't have Everyone in my WhatsApp groups has a retirement number. Nobody has one for their body. I wanted mine as an age, and an age is the one thing you can't have.
The subscribe and contact forms need JavaScript, and a database this server can reach. If you are seeing this sentence, one of the two is missing.
Get new writing by email
Double opt-in: you will get one email asking you to confirm, and until you click it you are on no list at all. Every email carries a one-click delete link, including that first one.
Tell me where this is wrong
Not published, not shown to anyone, not a comment thread. It goes to me and that is the whole of it.
Your address is stored so I can reply, and for nothing else. Replies are by hand, so it may take a while. What we store.