For the last 25 or so years I’ve been trying to eat pretty clean and have a healthy lifestyle. But a bout with cancer last year had/has me thinking about my mortality more often than I’d like. Lately, I've been following Bryan Johnson's "Don't Die" movement, and it's got me thinking about a financial crisis that's already happening but about to get a whole lot worse.
For yall that don't know, Bryan Johnson is a tech entrepreneur who sold his company for $800 million a few years ago and is now spending about $2 million a year on a radical experiment to reverse his biological age. He's got a team of doctors monitoring every aspect of his health, he follows an extremely strict protocol for his diet, exercise, supplements, and cutting-edge treatments, he’s even had hundreds of photos and scans taken of his bowels. He's literally trying to make his body younger than his chronological age.
The results are wild, he's published test results and statistical data saying that his overall biological age is now 5 years younger than his actual age(47) with some organs showing significantly younger. His heart has an age of 37, his skin 28, and his lungs are performing like a 19 year old's. This from a guy that when he started this quest was obese, never worked out, and ate a typical American diet of lots of fast food and processed food. He's sharing the process publicly through his Blueprint protocol and app. Whether you think he's super smart or crazy, he's become the face of a movement that's way bigger than just a rich guy looking for the fountain of youth.
But here's what watching Bryan Johnson made me realize; we have a massive problem that nobody is talking about. People are already outliving their retirement money now which is before any of these longevity breakthroughs become mainstream. The average American retires at 65 and lives into their early 80s; and 54% of Black households and 48% of white households will run out of money before they die. They're depleting their savings, relying on Social Security and they’re cutting back on needed medical care because they can't afford it. So many people are spending the last years of their lives in financial stress and turmoil.
Now imagine what happens when people more routinely start living to 90, 95, 100, or beyond, and still pretty healthy and active for most of those years. The math doesn't just get a little bit worse, it becomes completely unsustainable. If you retire at 65 and live to 100, that's 35 years you need to fund without a salary. Your 401k and your Social Security aren't designed for that.
This isn't some far-off science fiction scenario, this is already happening. Life expectancy has been climbing for decades, and the longevity technology that people like Bryan Johnson and other super rich dudes are investing in is going to accelerate that trend dramatically. Stuff like gene therapies, drugs that clear out aging cells, NAD+ boosters, AI-powered personalized medicine, and continuous health monitoring that catches problems before they become serious. Some of this stuff is already available if you know where to look and can afford it, and a lot more is coming in the next 5 to 10 years; and like all tech, it will become more affordable over time.
So here's the reality we’re facing; if you're in your 30s, 40s, and even 50’s right now, you're probably going to live a lot longer than you're planning for; and your current financial strategy is setting you up to run out of money decades before you die. The traditional retirement model is broken, and it's about to get way more broken as longevity technology improves and more people live well into their 90s and beyond.
This is where you need to rethink how you’re building wealth, because the old playbook of steady employment, max out your 401k, retire at 65 and coast on modest returns is not going to cut it anymore; it's actually not cutting it right now for most people. If you're going to be alive and healthy for 40 or 50 years after you stop working, you need your money working a lot harder than traditional investments can provide.
Private market investing is one of the best tools we have to solve this problem. When you invest in early-stage companies through angel investing you're getting access to the kind of high-growth opportunities that can turn modest investments into serious wealth over time. We're not talking about 7% annual returns, we're talking about investments that can 10x, 50x, or even 100x if you invest in the right companies and hold them long enough.
Those kinds of returns are what you need if you're planning for a retirement that could last 35 or 40 years instead of 15 or 20. They're what you need if you want to maintain your quality of life and financial independence well into your 90s or beyond. Public markets and index funds have their place, but they're not going to generate the wealth you need for the kind of extended lifespans people will have.
And here's where the longevity industry becomes a perfect example of why getting into private markets early matters so much. The companies working on anti-aging therapies, health optimization technology, personalized medicine, AI-driven health monitoring, all of that is being funded in private markets right now, years before any of it becomes available to the general public or hits the stock exchanges. The people investing in these companies today are going to capture enormous returns as this industry explodes over the next couple decades.
Because make no mistake, longevity is going to be one of the biggest industries in the world. Most people would say they want to live longer and healthier, which means everyone who can afford it is going to be a customer for whatever solutions work. I’m talking about a multi-trillion dollar market that's just getting started, and the wealth creation is happening right now in the private markets.
If you learn how to angel invest and get into these private markets, you can potentially do two things at once: build the kind of wealth you need to fund a much longer life, and invest in the companies that are making that longer life possible. That's a dope ass powerful combination, and it's the kind of strategic thinking you need if you’re serious about not running out of money in your 80s or 90s.
This isn't just about living longer, it's about having the financial resources to enjoy those extra years and not have to stress over money. That requires thinking differently about how you invest and build wealth starting right now.
The longevity boom is coming, the question is whether you're going to adjust your financial strategy to match your growing life expectancy. Its about whether you're going to be invested in the companies building this future or are you just gonna be a consumer paying for their products.
Cheers,
~Abdul
About Our Chairman
Hey Hey… I’m Abdul I’m the chaiman of Ajo Angels and Shujaa Capital and I’m on a mission to introduce angel investing to 25,000 black folks over the next five years. I’m doing this with the goal of narrowing the racial wealth gap as well as trying to close the billion dollar funding gap for black founders.
This article reflects personal perspective and experience, not financial advice. Every career and investment path involves different risks and opportunities. Make decisions based on your own circumstances and goals.