Life Expectancies are Growing - and So are Medicare and Social Security Costs

Which would you like first - the good news or the bad news?

Okay, we'll start with the good news. A new study from the MacArthur Foundation reveals that by 2050, Americans may live 3.1-7.9 years longer than official government projections. For men, that means life expectancy would rise to 83.2-85.9 years, up from the current projection of 80.0-80.9 years. For women, the estimate of 89.2-93.3 years is up from 83.4-85.3 years.

Not only is this great for those of us who want to stick around as long as we can, it also means that American society can expect new and expanded markets in health care and leisure and an expanded work force.

By the middle of the next decade, researchers expect the United States to become an "aging society" in which people over the age of 60 outnumber people under the age of 15.

So what's the bad news, you ask? Well, as life expectancies go up, so do the costs for government programs that serve older citizens. The study's authors estimate that the cumulative outlays for Medicare and Social Security could rise by $3.2 to $8.3 trillion over current government projections by 2050.