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[Life planning--consequences of a steadily growing life span 1650-2000. Considering the longer life span, do we need a life plan?].

Recent social historical studies on the development of life expectancy over the last 300-400 years have shown that the increasing certainty that the great majority of us will be able to live relatively healthy lives until the end is more decisive for most people than the lengthening of the life span itself. A premature death is no longer--as in previous generations--the rule. Today it is the exception. In an historical and worldwide context, we are the first who will--or could--be able to live our lives from the perspective of a relatively calculable, distant end. In order to do this to a greater degree and, above all, more consciously, a "life design" or "life plan" seems to be necessary. This means developing, as early in life as possible, the types of interests that will last a whole life long and will provide fulfillment, particularly in the "Fourth Age". The period of maturity (and waning activity) should not then be one of insufferable emptiness. "Maturity of life" can mean a chance and a goal for most of us today, provided that we structure this life appropriately ourselves. Contributions to discussions in this context in the USA and in two research-related seminars at the Free University of Berlin are presented.