Future Study

My original idea was not based on the premise of offering the BJD2040 Theory to be implemented in the future to balance the federal budget and pay back the National Debt. I just really wanted to be a trillionaire. I simply proposed an idea to my father in the summer of 2018 that I thought increased lifespans would lead to an ability to work longer and save much more money in retirement accounts in the future.

First my father asked why I want to be a trillionaire and my answer was not to buy more stuff but I wanted to help people in need. My father listened to me explain my ideas but stated that my goal might be a little too ambitious. He stated the richest people in the world have not even reached 100 billion in net worth. In addition, although he thought that with a college degree I could make a good salary, he did not see a way to save enough to be a trillionaire.

I then reminded him about Dr. David Sinclair from Harvard. Doctor Sinclair is working on reverse aging technology. My father and I had watched multiple programs and Ted Talks outlining his success. He had reverse-aged mice. Also at the Harvard Synopsis on Aging last year, it was proposed that by 2040 the average lifespan would be 250 years.

My father sat down at the kitchen table, opened up his computer and opened a retirement website. He calculated that if I would work until 176, and I invested 15 percent of my estimated income annually into my retirement account, that I could become a trillionaire.

I wrote this paper projecting the average life span would reach 125 by 2085. I do think lifespans may be higher but my father and I believe most people could not comprehend a lifespan of 250 years or more at the present time. However, indefinite lifespans may be something we have to consider in the future.

Evidence is overwhelming that technology will lead to longer lifespans. Think of all the medical breakthroughs in the recent past. We have just started understanding DNA from inventions in 1953. In 1967 we started to transplant hearts. In 1996 we started cloning mammals. In 2010 doctors completed a full face transplant. And in 2017 CRISPs were viewed in action for the very first time. CRISPR stands for “clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.” It gives researchers the ability to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects and treating and preventing the spread of diseases. Thus CRISPR technology will start extending lifespans in the near future.

Multiple Scientists are working with new technology to increase human life expectancy. The startup Rejuvenate Bio, cofounded by George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, is attempting to implement multiple ways to bring age-defeating treatments to market. The company started with mice and dogs and is hoping to then move to humans. Church’s objective is to “have the body and mind of a 22-year-old but the experience of a 130-year-old.” Church predicts that reverse aging will be a reality within the next 10 years.

Dr. David Sinclair, Professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging, believes he’s discovered a way to stay younger for longer. It starts with a molecule called NAD which humans need to live. As we age, the level of NAD in our cells drops, leading to DNA damage and aging. Sinclair and his team at Harvard Medical School’s Center boosted NAD levels in the blood vessels of old mice. “Now those blood vessels are young again. We get more blood vessels, more blood flow and the old mice, even the young mice, can run up to 50 percent, sometimes two times as far on a treadmill without getting tired,” Sinclair said.

A scientific team led by Bruno de Jesus and Maria do Carmo-Fonseca, professors at the University of Lisbon, used a genetically modified mouse model to study cellular ageing and regeneration. The team found that cells derived from the skin of old mice produced higher amounts of a long non-coding RNA molecule named Zeb2-NAT when compared to cells from young mice. By reducing the amount of this specific RNA molecule, it was possible to efficiently regenerate old cells in the mice.

Although I have listed three separate groups working on reverse aging technology, there are hundreds more throughout the world. The question isn’t if, the question is when they will finalize their process of anti-aging.

The 2040 from the BJD theory represents two outcomes. The first outcome is the projected year in which lifespans will dramatically increase. The second outcome would be the end of a 20-year timeframe in which United States households could be encouraged to open a retirement account. It would be a goal to have 100 percent participation in retirement accounts by 2040. And participation would mean to open and consistently contribute to the account.

In the next 20 years, how will we encourage individuals to contribute to 401K retirement accounts to build wealth? Although ideas such as automatic enrolment will start people on the right tract, it will be lower taxes that result in higher retirement account contributions?

I model three future taxation rates for retirement accounts. The first is a .25% annual tax on retirement accounts exceeding $10,000,000 in assets. The second is a 17.5% income tax on all account withdrawals from accounts exceeding $5,000,000. The third is a 17.5% estate tax on retirement accounts.

Lower taxation rates are extremely important for the successful implementation of the BJD 2040 theory. It will immediately entice higher income earners to contribute larger portions of their salary. It will also be supported politically as a third option to today’s political argument. The current political argument is either to raise taxes or cut social programs to balance the federal budget and pay back the National Debt. The BJD 2040 is a third option in the argument that is incentivized by lower taxation rates.

If the implementation of the BJD Theory is successful, increased tax revenue could also fund current social service programs. Congress could temporarily increase the National Debt to help low –and moderate-income families in 2019 and pay back the debt with taxation on future retirement accounts.

Let’s explore paying for current social service programs with federal taxation on future retirement accounts. Please note that there are multiple proposals for each separate category listed below. Furthermore, the amount listed below predominately represents funding for future social programs affecting low –and moderate-income families. I have listed a few social service programs commonly debated at this time. I have also assigned annual funding amounts after studying multiple proposed programs.

We can easily calculate how much these programs would cost over 65 years by taking 1.978 trillion and adding an inflation rate of 2.25 percent (the average over the last 20 years is approximately 2.20 percent). Implementing these programs for 65 years would cost approximately 291 trillion dollars with the approximate cost being 8.5 trillion in 2085. Remember that the projected revenue from retirement account taxation will exceed 36 trillion in 2085. In addition, federal taxation revenue will gradually increase starting in the 2060’s. Also we would need to project the positive outcome of the social service programs being funded.

What happens if the BJD 2040 plan does not work as planned? The most conservative estimates in increasing lifespans in humans are lifespan projections of 95 years by 2085. In modeling retirement accounts, if we utilize a 50 year of work history instead of a 65 year of work history, it results in one quadrillion dollars being saved in retirement accounts. Although it will not generate as much federal tax revenue as the 65 year work history, the accounts still will generate an estimated 11 trillion dollars in federal tax revenue in 2085. Plus we have helped over 118 million households set up systematic retirement contributions that will help them be less dependent on assistance programs and instability due to lack of income in their retirement years; whether all or part of the BJD 2040 theory is implemented, the reward greatly outweighs the risk.

Many reading this report may cast doubt on the future 8 percent investment return of the retirement account. We are currently in a technologic revolution. This revolution will dwarf the industrial revolution. The amount of new inventions that will be released in the next 25 years will be overwhelming when compared with any time in history.

My father always commented how robotics, self-driving cars, hologram projection systems and toilets will be some of the new items that everyone will have in 10 years. Yes, he talks about toilets a lot. He says that multiple companies are working on inventing toilets that analyze everything about the body (waste, heart rate, temperature, etc.), and will have a direct link to your doctor. With over 136 million houses in the United States installing new toilets, it could result in trillions of dollars in sales. Inventions like robots, self-driving cars, hologram machines and new toilets are just the tip of the iceberg for the current technological revolution! All these inventions will spur the economy for decades.

There also may be future negative outcomes of the BJD 2040 Theory. The first negative impact could be hyperinflation. As my father and I ran numbers multiple times this past year it occurred to us that extended lifespans and extended work history could cause hyperinflation. Hyperinflation occurs when there is a continuing (and often accelerating) rapid increase in the amount of money that is not supported by a corresponding growth in the output of goods and services. What our research indicates is that no matter what tool high income earners utilize to invest, the money supply could greatly increase and there will be multiple trillionaires in the next 100 years. Having multiple households that have so much money will probably cause hyperinflation at some time.

The second negative outcome of implementing the BJD 2040 is an extreme wealth gaps between low income households, which are defined as the bottom 40 percent of household earners and upper income households, which we define as the top 40 percent of earners. So if the BJD 2040 theory was implemented and successful, the bottom 40 percent of households would gain an estimated 46.79 Trillion in wealth over the next 65 years. However the top 40 percent of households will establish 3.619 quadrillion in retirement savings.

As part of the BJD Theory I am proposing that the government consider opening a retirement account for every individual once they reach the age of 18. The average rate of return in the stock market is approximately 8 percent over the past 30 years. Even if an individual only contributes $1,000 a year to the account, the retirement savings after 72 (retiring at 90) years would be $3,310,860. Thus, the U.S. government retirement contribution would enable a majority of U.S. households to be millionaires upon retirement.