Actuary Hal Tepfer Weighs in on Study on Presidential Candidate Life Expectancy
With five presidential candidates at age 70 or older, should we be concerned about mental acuity or an increased possibility of age-related death in the next president? This was the premise of a study conducted by the American Federation for Aging Research, and actuary Hal Tepfer—associate professor of the practice and director of the Actuarial Science master’s degree program at BU’s Metropolitan College—weighs in on the topic in a Politico article and the Bloomberg Baystate Business radio show “Aging, Horse Racing, TJX.” The study, based on life-expectancy projections drawn from actuarial tables used by the insurance industry and the Social Security Administration, finds that these candidates are “superagers,” a segment of the population who are likely to outlive the average American due to their access to healthcare, higher education, and pensions. Tepfer, however, cautions that the candidates are nevertheless septuagenarians: “They’re still likelier to die than the average person,” he said. “That’s why they probably can’t buy insurance.”
Read the full Politico article here, then listen to the Bloomberg online radio interview.