The May edition of National Geographic magazine has the cover story headline, “This Baby Will Live to Be 120*.” Pictured below the headline is an adorable baby. The asterisk’s footnote to the right reads, “It’s not just hype. New science could lead to very long lives.”

We don’t doubt the possibility. Less than 100-years ago, before sanitary sewer separation and Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, lifespans were much shorter. Bacteria and infections would commonly wipe people out before they turned 50.

According to National Geographic, the next bull market in life expectancy may be in gene mutations found in people who are genetically isolated. Somehow these mutated genes prevent life shortening diseases.

For example, Ashkenazi Jews have mutations that limit high blood pressure and lower the risk of Alzheimer’s. Amish, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, have a mutation that lowers fat in the blood. Gene mutations found in Japanese Americans lessen the chance of heart disease and cancer.

From what we gather, longevity researchers are exploring these gene mutation phenomena…looking for ways to extend life expectancy rates. Perhaps, they’ll discover what they’re after. If so, it could have some dramatic consequences…

Tilting the Natural Energies of the World on End

For instance, the baby who’ll live to be 120 can retire at age 67 and receive full benefits under current Social Security law. That will amount to over a half century of government checks. Who’s paying for that?

Of course, Social Security will be belly up long before the baby reaches retirement age…it already is. So, without some strategic planning, the baby will work well past their 100th birthday. Monday mornings are tough enough for a spry 30 year old. Certainly, for a 100 year old, they’ll be exceptionally rough.

But they don’t have to be. Monday mornings could be enjoyed from a sunny patio overlooking the Pacific Ocean and with a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. In fact, it may not take much to get there.

What if that baby makes just one or two key decisions before they get too far down their life’s path? Even the simplest of decisions could dramatically tilt the natural energies of the world on end and funnel them into a prosperous future. For example, what if that baby chose to go one whole year without driving a car while in their early- or mid-20s?

Not having a $350 monthly car payment, an $80 monthly insurance payment, and an $80 monthly gas expense would amount to an annual savings of $6,120. Subtracting out $40 per month for a monthly metro pass still leaves $5,640 at year end. Not bad for one year without a car.

But, more importantly, it’s not what this money is today that matters. Rather, it’s what it will become that we care about. For if this money’s played right, overtime, it’ll become more than enough to provide a lengthy and comfortable retirement for the future centenarian.

Don’t believe it? Take a moment to read and consider what follows…

Do You Have the Conviction to Get Rich?

In “The Little Book of Big Dividends,” author, Charles B. Carlson, notes that a $5,000 investment in shares of Philip Morris and Exxon, in August of 1982 would now be worth more than $1 million dollars…even after the market crash of 2008.

Obviously, the 1,750 percent price appreciation of the DOW had something to do with it. Still, that wouldn’t even have gotten the initial $5,000 investment 10 percent of the way to $1 million. You see, the real wealth was built through parlaying the dividends back into shares of stock.

Compounding these returns overtime through automatic reinvestment of dividends is what really turned the initial $5,000 investment into over $1 million. Naturally, hindsight’s always a crystal clear twenty-twenty. Nonetheless, to succeed with this trade, it didn’t take much extra research or special analytical skill.

In 1982 Exxon and Philip Morris were hardly undiscovered diamonds in the rough. They were common household names representing boring blue chip companies. They were there for anyone and everyone to buy. And that’s the point…

Everyone knew who these companies were. Yet only a small fraction of a percent of the population got rich investing in them. When it comes down to it, for those who got rich, it didn’t take guts, special foresight, or luck. It took persistence and the conviction to stick to a boring, but time-tested way to get rich.