Do not stop saving money on the premise that "anyone could die at any moment so spend it all now"; roughly 90% of thirty-year-olds survive to age sixty

According to World Health Organization life tables for China, approximately 92% of thirty-year-olds survive to age 60, and over half live past age 80. Younger individuals systematically overestimate their probability of premature death; living according to this distorted subjective risk leads young adults to save roughly 25% less than rational lifecycle models dictate. Most people will live to old age and need accumulated savings to support those decades.

Zero financial cost. What is required is pausing when the thought arises ("who knows if I'll even be here tomorrow?") and considering the objective probability of surviving to sixty. The difficulty is that peer culture frequently normalizes nihilistic spending, while desired consumer items are right in front of you.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory 2023 life tables for China (calculating age-specific survival probabilities from current age-stratified mortality rates): a 30-year-old individual has a 92.0% probability of surviving to age 60 (89.2% for males, 94.9% for females). The probability of surviving to age 65 is 87.4% (83.0% for males, 92.0% for females), and the probability of surviving to age 80 is 55.6% (45.8% for males, 66.1% for females). Individuals reaching age 65 have an additional average life expectancy of 17.5 years. Regarding subjective perception, a 2019 study published in The Journal of Finance surveyed subjective survival beliefs: younger adults dramatically underestimate their probability of survival, whereas older adults overestimate theirs. For instance, a 28-year-old male with an actuarial 99.4% probability of surviving the next five years subjectively estimated his survival probability at only 92.8%. When researchers integrated these distorted subjective survival expectations into standard life-cycle consumption and savings models, younger adults saved 26% less than optimal, while retirees decumulated wealth 27% too slowly. The more distorted an individual's mortality beliefs, the more skewed their savings behavior remained, even after controlling for risk aversion, cognitive ability, and household income. The authors identified availability bias—overweighting sensationalized, highly salient causes of premature death—as a key psychological driver.

Rated Grade B because life tables are demographic models and the 26% undersaving figure is derived from economic structural estimation rather than a prospective randomized trial. Benefit magnitude is categorized as Moderate: undersaving can amount to tens of thousands of RMB over decades, but financial outcomes depend on individual income. This advice does not oppose spending on meaningful experiences or hobbies; it specifically refutes the fatalistic "YOLO / I might die tomorrow anyway" rationalization. For unexpected disasters or critical illness, protect downside risk using emergency funds (Chapter 5, Rule 27) and catastrophic insurance (Chapter 5, Rule 39). If dependents rely on your income, maintain term life insurance (Chapter 5, Rule 40). Emotional retail spending is addressed in Chapter 6, Rule 23. Primary beneficiary is yourself.

World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. Life tables: lx - number of people left alive at age x, China, 2023（指标 LIFE_0000000031）. https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/LIFE_0000000031?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20'CHN'%20and%20TimeDim%20eq%202023；World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. Life tables: ex - expectation of life at age x, China, 2023（指标 LIFE_0000000035）. https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/LIFE_0000000035?$filter=SpatialDim%20eq%20'CHN'%20and%20TimeDim%20eq%202023；Heimer RZ, Myrseth KOR, Schoenle RS (2019). YOLO: Mortality Beliefs and Household Finance Puzzles. The Journal of Finance, 74(6), 2957-2996. https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12828；Heimer RZ, Myrseth KOR, Schoenle RS (2016). YOLO: Mortality Beliefs and Household Finance Puzzles. SSRN 工作稿（28 岁男性那个例子出自这一版）. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2749543