Longevity Calculator - Living to 100

This survey took 5 minutes to complete and gave my test person a life expectancy of 84 years with an additional 12.5 years if certain suggestions were followed.

If you have never taken a longevity test or used a longevity calculator before, this one has all the basics covered. I asked a friend to take this (and several other longevity tests) to compare the results. He received a life expectancy calculation of 84 years with the possibility of adding 12.5 extra years if certain behaviors were followed.

The recommendations he received were: exercise more to increase life expectancy by 5 more, take a daily aspirin for 2 more years of life, cut back one day of work for 2 more years of life, floss daily for 1 more year of life and several other suggestions. Most of these are pretty good suggestions, though it is not clear where the results come from. One suggestion was to cut back on coffee (entered 1-2 cups a day). This suggestion doesn't really pan out in research - some recent studies show that caffeine at this amount is good for you.

When you click on "About the Calculator" you find out that Dr. Perls' Longevity Calculator is available for licensing, but you do not find any information about the research behind (only that Dr. Perls is head of the New England Centenarian Study).

I think the most disappointing thing about this longevity calculator is the lack of links from the results page. One of the suggestions for my friend was to "lower blood pressure." That's it - just "lower blood pressure" with no links or suggestions.

Overall, this calculator is worth the 5 minutes it will take you to complete it. You do not need to give an e-mail and will not receive any messages after taking the test. The test seems comparable in accuracy, but lacks follow-up from the results page.