The 2026 Longevity Preparedness Index from John Hancock and MIT AgeLab places American readiness for extended lifespans at 60 out of 100, unchanged from 2025. Care arrangements scored lowest at 43, while community and social connection scored highest at 71 and 69. The flat year-over-year result indicates that awareness of longer lifespans has not translated into structural preparation.
Key Points
- Overall preparedness score held at 60 for second year
- Care planning scored lowest at 43; community highest at 71
- Adviser users scored 67 versus 58; correlation only, survey-based
Longevity Analysis
Extended lifespan without corresponding preparation in housing, caregiving and daily function produces years that are survived rather than lived. The weakest domain — who will provide care — maps directly onto the period when regenerative capacity, mobility and independent function decline, and when the burden on social and emotional support shifts from optional to structural. The gap between knowing and doing is the operative problem here: plans that remain unexecuted confer no protection, and the index measures implementation rather than intent. Note that the research was funded by a company selling insurance, wealth and retirement products, and that the adviser finding is associative.
Original published by Longevity.Technology, by Kyle Umipig.