Glossary

Life expectancy

The average number of additional years people of a given age are expected to live, calculated from mortality tables for a population or group.

Also called: average life expectancy, expected lifespan, remaining life expectancy

Life expectancy is an actuarial average: the mean number of years remaining for people of a given age, sex and sometimes health, assuming current death rates hold. It is derived from a mortality table. Life expectancy at birth is the headline figure in government reports, but for insurance and retirement planning, life expectancy at your current age matters more, and it rises the longer you survive.

As an average, it says little about any one person. Say, hypothetically, a 65-year-old has a 20-year life expectancy: roughly half of people like them will die before 85 and half after, and a meaningful share will live into their 90s. That spread is why retirement plans often assume living well past the average, and why annuity pricing depends on it.

Different users rely on different tables. The Social Security Administration publishes period life tables for the general population. Insurers use tables built on insured lives, which typically show longer lifespans. The IRS publishes life expectancy tables for required minimum distributions, and life settlement firms order individual estimates from medical records. Estimate your own with the life expectancy calculator, and see mortality trends and how they move life insurance prices and the odds of outliving your term.

Last reviewed October 4, 2026

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Related terms

Mortality table A chart showing, for each age, the probability of dying within a year and often the expected remaining lifetime, used to price and reserve for life insurance. Mortality rate The share of people of a given age expected to die within a year, often shown as deaths per 1,000; it is the foundation of life insurance pricing. Mortality improvement The long-term decline in death rates at each age over time, which actuaries project forward when pricing life insurance, annuities and pensions. Actuary A specialist who uses statistics, mortality data and financial math to price policies, set reserves and measure an insurer's long-term risk. Required minimum distribution (RMD) The minimum amount the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from traditional IRAs and most workplace retirement plans once you reach a set age.

Related guides

How annuity rates are set and why they move Annuity rates come from an insurer's bond earnings minus costs and profit, plus mortality for income annuities. Why they move with bond yields and competition. Mortality trends and how they move life insurance prices Life insurance prices follow expected death rates. What CDC and SSA data show about U.S. mortality, and why insured-population trends move prices slowly. Social Security survivor benefits and the $255 death payment Who gets Social Security survivor benefits, what they pay (71.5-100% for widows, 75% for children), the $255 death payment and the gaps to insure. Term life insurance at 60 and beyond Whether term life still makes sense in your 60s and 70s, how short terms, conversion and group coverage change the picture, and what to do if you are declined. Why women pay less for life insurance Women usually pay less for life insurance because they live longer. SSA mortality figures, why the gap varies, and Montana's 2022 change on sex-based rates.

Related tools

Life expectancy calculator Shows average remaining lifetime at your age and sex, and the chance of reaching 70, 80, 90 or 100, from the Social Security life table. Odds of outliving your term Shows the average chance, at your age and sex, of dying during a 10- to 40-year term, and of outliving it.