We usually hedge against a long life by planning for our retirement. We save up. We make sure we have enough passive income to last 20-30 years after our retirement. But we also have to hedge against the possibility of having a short life. Nobody knows when we're going to pass away. While it's never good to live in the present and forget about the future, it's also equally bad to concentrate solely on the future and skim on the present. I know myself  - I tend to over-worry too much. I worry whether I have enough income and enough savings to last me the next month. It took me quite a while before I can willingly spend part of my savings on myself. I've to thank my enlightened friends to knock some sense into me when I'm obsessed about savings at the neglect of my present self. So hedge ......