Retiring at 65 looks very different if retirement lasts 10 years instead of 40. The difference between dying at 75 and living to 105 can reshape everything from monthly budgets to housing decisions, investment withdrawals, and family inheritances.
Of course, nobody gets to know the ending in advance. Someone who saves enough for a comfortable retirement might eventually discover that the money must support three extra decades. Someone else might spend years sacrificing enjoyable experiences to fund a future that never arrives. Retirement planning requires a balance between those possibilities, not a bet on a particular birthday.
