If you can read this, you’ll be living longer than you expect!
By Shane Flait © 2008

How long will you statistically live? You probably think that statistically you’ll live to about 75.

The life expectancy for people born in the year 1900 was 53. That means 50% of the people born in 1900 were expected to live beyond 53. Of course the other 50% were expected to have died before reaching it. Mortality data showed that to be true. Life expectancy is statistically the ‘50/50’ age that people will live to. 

 

Today a person born in 2000 is expected to live 77 years. So 50% of them will live beyond the year 2077. The increase in life expectancy during the past century resulted from improved medical and health care. These life expectancies are based on the whole population.

 

Life expectancy had more detailed variations based on a person’s sex, and socioeconomic status. Women born in the year 2000 have a life expectancy of 79.9 while that of men is only 74.  Well-off white collar workers will statistically live longer then poorer blue collar workers.

 

If you watch your living style and health you can affect your life expectancy.  So you’re not destined to kick the bucket at the 75 year mark! 

 

More years left for you than you think

Life expectancy is based on the age from which you measure years to death. Most often we consider the beginning age being birth. In that case, a lot of child aged deaths can eat away at the age by which 50% of all will die.  If you start at a higher age, then your expected years to death increases above what you would expect if you measured morality from birth. The older you get, the further beyond your original life expectancy you’re expected to live!

 

Insurance statisticians keep track of this extended life expectancy for persons based on their current age. The IRS publishes its own tables on these[1]. It’s called ‘the life expectancy factor’ which is the number of years more you have to live – statistically. You have a 50% chance of outliving these too! See the table for examples taken from the IRS’s table.

                                   

Current age (yrs)	IRS Life expectancy Factor (yrs)	Projected life  expectancy (yrs)
60	25.2	85.2
65	21	86
70	17	87
75	13.4	88.4
80	10.2	90.2
85	7.6	92.6

The result of all this is that you have generally a much longer time to live – statistically- than they think. This is important to know for both planning for more to accomplish in the 3^rd phase of your life – often called retirement – and for considering how long you need to invest for.

  

Shane Flait is a writer and educator. See more at www.EasyRetirementKnowHow.com