Misunderstanding

Life expectancy can be a key factor in evaluating the cost and benefits of a reverse mortgage. But many people misunderstand the life expectancy figures they may read or hear about. For example, let’s say you read somewhere that the average life expectancy of Americans is 75 years. This does NOT mean that a 65-year-old American has about 10 more years to live on average. It means that counting from birth, the average American will live to be 75 years old. The number of years of remaining life counting from a certain age is a different matter. All current 65-year-olds, for example, have already outlived many people who were born when they were. So this is a healthier group, and more of them will live beyond age 75 than the ones who didn’t make it to 65.

Remaining Life Expectancy

How many more years will persons who have already made it to a given age live? The table below presents the median figure for males and females aged 65 through 90. This means that about half the females now aged 65, for example, will live for at least another 18.4 years – to age 83.4.

Average Remaining Years of Life for Males and Females of Various Ages

AGE	Male	Female		AGE	Male	Female
65	14.2	18.4		78	7.6	9.8
66	13.6	17.7		79	7.2	9.2
67	13.0	17.0		80	6.8	8.7
68	12.5	16.3		81	6.4	8.2
69	11.9	15.5		82	6.1	7.7
70	11.4	14.8		83	5.8	7.2
71	10.8	14.2		84	5.4	6.8
72	10.3	13.5		85	5.1	6.4
73	9.8	12.8		86	4.9	6.0
74	9.4	12.2		87	4.6	5.6
75	8.9	11.6		88	4.3	5.3
76	8.5	11.0		89	4.1	5.0
77	8.0	10.4		90	3.9	4.7

Source: National Center for Health Statistics: U.S. Decennial Life Tables for 1979-81 The figures in this table are different from the ones provided by life insurance companies. The life insurance tables are typically based on people who buy annuities, and these people tend to live longer than the rest of the population. That’s why “annuity mortality” tables have larger numbers than the ones in this table.