Want to live to 100? These workers have the longest life spans

359 members of State Teachers’ Retirement System are over 100

At 92 and nearly blind, Betty Jean Reynolds isn’t ready to give up her life’s work as a teacher. She volunteers once a month at Modesto’s McHenry Mansion, where she shows artifacts and mementos from the city’s early history.

“I kind of like that. I enjoy talking to people whether I can see them or not,” she joked.

When she began her career in Modesto schools, Harry Truman was president and gas was just 27 cents a gallon. Today, Reynolds is part of a growing cohort of retired teachers who are living longer and staying active in their communities.

Two years ago, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System recognized the trend when it adjusted its mortality tables, acknowledging that both male and female retirees were living about two to three years longer on average than the pension fund’s previous model projected.

That means the pension fund has to manage money wisely to make sure retirees can count on their benefits for decades to come.

“Monitoring life expectancy of CalSTRS members is extremely important for the long-term sustainability of the system, and CalSTRS actuarial staff monitors changes on an annual basis,” said CalSTRS spokesman Thomas Lawrence.

The trend is noticeable among the state’s oldest retirees. CalSTRS, for instance, has 359 members over age 100. They’re rare — more than 900,000 active and retired educators belong to CalSTRS — but their numbers increased by 12% in just one year, CalSTRS Chief Investment Officer Jack Ehnes recently reported to the CalSTRS Board of Education.

CalSTRS’ oldest member is 108. There are more than 47,000 CalSTRS beneficiaries in their 80s and 11,800 in their 90s.

Nationwide, teachers have the longest average lifespan of any public employee, according to the Society of Actuaries.

Men who teach live on average until nearly 88 years old, while women who teach live on average to be 90, according to a Society of Actuaries study. That’s compared to 85 for men and 88 for women who work in other government careers.

In California, retired teachers beat the national average.

The average female educator who retires at 62 is expected to collect state pension benefits until 91. Men retiring at 62 are expected to reach 90, according to the pension fund.

At the state’s larger public pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, former government workers aren’t quite as lucky.

Male public employees in the CalPERS system on average live to be 84, while women on average live to be nearly 87, according to CalPERS spokeswoman Amy Morgan.

David Lamoureux, CalSTRS deputy system actuary, whose job it is to estimate how long retired teachers will live, said that “we can only speculate” as to the reason teachers live so long.

One thing that appears to hold true is that many retired teachers continue to serve in the community long after they’ve retired.

“Most people get into public school teaching because they want to give back and help the future generations. And when they retire, they rarely sit around and just do nothing,” said Debbie PateNewberry of the California Retired Teachers Association. “When your life has a purpose, you have a reason to get up every day.”

Reynolds, who has been retired for as long as she taught, certainly fits that mold.

Though she officially retired in 1985, when Ronald Reagan was president and gas was $1.13 a gallon, Reynolds continued to stay busy, including working as a consultant, volunteering and teaching art and calligraphy to youths up until last year.

“I enjoyed teaching because I liked working with young children,” she said. “Their eyes would light up and you knew you’d gotten through to them.”

Reynolds got her start in 1951, working as an elementary school teacher. She later would work with other teachers, helping them to adjust to the job and plan their lessons.

“I enjoyed teaching other teachers how to teach,” she said.

Though she no longer teaches, Reynolds says she stays busy by visiting antique clubs, collecting ink pens and inkwells, and donating art supplies to local schools.

Her time at the McHenry Mansion is meaningful to her, too. “I still continue to volunteer my services where I can to help. It’s important, it’s how communities grow with people coming together, volunteering, sharing,” she said.