IF you seem to be spending an increasing amount of time fretting about your pension, here’s something to cheer you up. Not only are we living longer, we are also getting wiser. A study found that men and women in their nineties today are mentally sharper than those who reached the same age 10 years earlier. The research, published in the Lancet Medical Journal, contradicts the perception that a longer old age will inevitably bring more ill health. The Danish researchers said: “If this development continues, the future functional problems and care needs of very elderly people might be less than are anticipated.” Professor Kaare Christensen, of the University of Southern Denmark, analysed data on two groups of Danes – one born in 1905, and the other in 1915.