I have 24,090 days left to live -- according to an online life-expectancy calculator that predicted I’d live to be 98. That’s more than a decade longer than the average life expectancy.

Though I won’t order an engraved headstone just yet, I think the calculator is a valuable tool.

After answering 43 medical, family history and lifestyle questions, the website offers the option to view feedback: tips for increasing your magic number.

I learned a few things.

- I could increase my lifespan by a year by switching my iron-enriched multivitamin with one that’s iron-free. The website claimed that iron is an age-accelerator and increases risk of age-related disease.

- I could add another year if I swap my morning coffee for tea.

- Taking an 81 mg aspirin might earn me yet another year of life.

- Face-to-face contact with supportive friends and family, at least three days each week, could get me an extra six months.

It’s nice, too, to know that I’m doing some things right.

- My time on the treadmill gets more traction than merely staving off extra pounds.

- My college degree bought not only an education, but more time on this planet.

- The website congratulated me on my vegetarianism and reminded me of the litany of health benefits associated with skipping meat, such as lower risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

Though no one knows with certainty the day or the hour we will die, we do have a say how we live.

Food for Thought: “What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.” n Unknown

Learn more: Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator: http://www.livingto100.com/