Aging society faces financial drain

PHILADELPHIA – Abish Hopenwasser never expected to live to 100.

But here he is, 102 years old and 31 years removed from his retirement as a tailor doing piecework in New York’s garment district.

It is hard enough planning for retirement when you figure you will live 20 or 25 more years. How do you support leisure years that span three decades or more?

It is no idle query. There are 50,000 centenarians in the United States, according to the U.S. Census, and the United Nations projects that by 2050 the number will grow to 298,000.

“It used to be you planned to live to 85, but today you should plan for 95 and as time goes by see how the numbers look,” said Neal E. Cutler, a financial gerontologist at Widener University in Chester, Pa.

Hopenwasser, who has been retired since 1974, lives on a combination of Social Security, his pension from the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and investments made years ago with $100,000 in savings and inheritance.

But, like many Americans, he did not consult a financial planner – or, over the years, give much thought to how long his retirement would last. His son advises him now.

“I made good money, and I saved my money,” Hopenwasser explained.

And it is never too late to manage it. “The years between 60 and 80 are still investable years,” Cutler said. “The money still has to grow.”

It is also never too early to start thinking about retirement. People are retiring at a younger age than in previous generations and living longer, a trend that baby boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 – are expected to continue in spades.

“So what we accumulate in fewer years has to last longer. It’s a formula for disaster if you don’t recognize that,” Cutler said.

For quite a few years, Hopenwasser had other things on his mind.

He arrived in New York from Rudnik in his native Poland in 1939, hoping to find work and a way for his wife and two young children to join him. But five months later, Hitler invaded Poland and, in 1941, Hopenwasser’s young family was murdered by the Nazis – along with both of his parents, two brothers and a sister, and all of their families. Two other siblings were already in America.

Such a tragedy could have ruined anyone for life. But Hopenwasser, whose first name morphed into Alan, carried on. He was remarried in 1947, and he and his wife, Dora, a garment worker from Ukraine, had a son, Howard, now 56 and a dentist in Yardley, Pa.

Hopenwasser eventually moved to Philadelphia to be near his son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters, now 29 and 33. Again a widower, he lives in a one-bedroom apartment at Harbor View Towers, an independent and assisted-living retirement community in Philadelphia’s Far Northeast.

He is a bit hard of hearing even with two hearing aids. He has a little arthritis, minor heart problems, and an unsteady gait that improves with a walker. But, all things considered, he is in pretty good shape – mentally clear, going to concerts, bingo and parquet games in his building, and given to riding his stationary bike once or twice a week in his bedroom.

He gave up riding a real bicycle outside when he was 96. “The doctor was worried about me,” he said.

Still, he is perplexed to be an extremely senior citizen. “I didn’t live differently from other people,” he said.

He did have a grandfather who lived to 101, and his parents were 79 or 80 when they were killed. Longevity tends to run in families, according to the 1999 Harvard-based New England Centenarian Study, which took a national look at centenarians and their children.

The study links other factors to this generation of 100-year-olds: Improvements in public health, such as clean water and vaccines; medical interventions for things such as heart disease; good eating habits; regular physical and mental exercise; minimal smoking and drinking; a positive outlook; low stress; and healthy social interactions.

Hopenwasser would seem to fit that description fairly well. Although he smoked filterless cigarettes for almost 40 years and loves “any beer” and an occasional glass of chardonnay, he has had an unexceptional diet – few sweets, chopped liver, steak and vegetables – and exercised regularly.

His 5-foot-9 frame has shrunk over the years to 5-5, but his weight has stayed around 166. And despite having lived through some of life’s most stressful situations, he remains positive, with close ties to family and friends.

“They died already a lot,” he said of his friends, but a few are still left in the Bronx and Miami. And his apartment blooms with family pictures: Howard Hopenwasser and his wife, Helena, and their daughters Joanna and Monica, three nieces and nephews, seven great-nieces and nephews, and 18 great-great-nieces and nephews. “He lives for his family,” Howard said.

“Yes,” said his “Pop,” who good-naturedly chides his son: “You get to 70, you retire.”

“I will,” Howard replied. “I’m trying to save money.”