Will you live to 100? Bookmakers will take your bet

A British man celebrated his 100th birthday in style--by winning 25,000 pounds ($50,000) from a 250-to-1 wager that he would make it to 100.

Alec Holden, from Epsom, south west of London, had placed a 100 pound bet with bookmaker William Hill almost 10 years ago that he would live to be 100 years old.

The retired engineer said a daily diet of porridge and playing chess was the key to his longevity -- as was remembering to keep breathing.

"When we started taking these bets, a 100 years old seemed to be an almost mythical landmark and we were prepared to offer massive odds," said Rupert Adams of William Hill.

According to this website the odds of making to 100 are 2%. Also note that when looking at life expectancy it's really "life-expectancy-at-birth" which is a mean, not a median. Infant mortality conceals the substantial number of people who will live well past this age. This is particularly true when you are looking at someone who is 90. Since they have already beaten the odds by making it to 90 and not dying along the way, the odds are much, much higher for them to make it to the century mark than normal life expectancy figures might seem to indicate.

According to Danny Dorling, professor of human geography at Sheffield University.

"By the time you get to 90 you've gone past a lot of the things that usually kill you, the bulk of cancers apart from prostate, your heart is fairly sound and so people who die in their 90s tend to die from different things than other people. [That said] it's not all good news at 90. The chances of outliving your children rises significantly at that age and grief about losing a child is no less in old age than in young."

While on the subject of whether or not you'll ever be able to call yourself a centenarian, you might want to note this:
"If your mother was under 25 years old when you were born, your odds of living to 100 or beyond just doubled when compared to people whose mothers were older at the time of their birth."

Probably the best advice is to enjoy life, live healthy and if you feel like it place a bet on your ability to live a long life.
centenarian