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Life Expectancy

What is Life Expectancy?

Life expectancy is an estimate of how long an individual is likely to live based on specific factors, like their current age, gender, and lifestyle choices. In life insurance, life expectancy is the major determinant of the cost of coverage.


How insurers use life expectancy

Life insurance companies specialize in risk calculation — and mitigation. A big way they do this is by factoring in an individual’s life expectancy before issuing them a life insurance policy.


When you apply for life insurance on yourself, the insurance provider gathers data about you. You might need to go in for a medical exam and fill out a questionnaire about things like your occupation, your exercise habits, and whether or not you smoke, for example.


The insurer then uses all of this data, alongside sophisticated algorithms and mortality tables, to estimate your life expectancy.


The longer they expect you to live, the less you’ll need to pay for life insurance. The thinking goes that when you live longer, you’ll have more time to pay your life insurance premiums. That allows the insurer to recoup money before they have to pay out your death benefit when you pass away.


Life expectancy to determine premiums

In order for life insurance companies to stay profitable and continue coverage for their insureds, they need to bring in more money than they pay out in a specific period. Estimating life expectancy helps them do just that.


If they expect an individual to live for a while after they purchase coverage, they’ll put that person in a better rate class. A more preferential rating means that person will pay less for life insurance. That’s why younger people usually get cheaper life insurance.


If the insurer determines that the life expectancy for that individual isn’t very long, they will charge more for the life insurance premiums — or they may deny that individual coverage altogether.


Gender and life expectancy

While calculating your life expectancy is generally a nuanced process, there’s one area in which it’s pretty simple. Because women tend to live longer than men, life insurers bump up their life expectancy. And that means that women will usually pay less than men for life insurance, assuming all other factors (like health status, age, and lifestyle choices) are the same. The exception is the state of Montana, where all life insurance rates are unisex.


Life expectancy table

There are many varying factors that affect life expectancy as seen above but in general terms, these are the numbers for the US (data from the Office of the Chief Actuary):

  • Probability of dying within one year.

  • The period life expectancy at a given age for 2019 is the average remaining number of years expected prior to death for a person at that exact age, born on January 1, using the mortality rates for 2019 over the course of his or her remaining life.


Exact


age

Male

Female


Death


probability

Life


expectancy

Death


probability

Life


expectancy

0

0.006081

76.23

0.005046

81.28

1

0.000425

75.69

0.000349

80.69

2

0.00026

74.73

0.000212

79.72

3

0.000194

73.75

0.000166

78.74

4

0.000154

72.76

0.000137

77.75

5

0.000142

71.77

0.000122

76.76

6

0.000135

70.78

0.000111

75.77

7

0.000127

69.79

0.000103

74.78

8

0.000117

68.8

0.000098

73.79

9

0.000104

67.81

0.000095

72.79

10

0.000097

66.81

0.000096

71.8

11

0.000106

65.82

0.000102

70.81

12

0.000145

64.83

0.000116

69.81

13

0.00022

63.84

0.000139

68.82

14

0.000324

62.85

0.00017

67.83

15

0.000437

61.87

0.000204

66.84

16

0.000552

60.9

0.00024

65.86

17

0.000676

59.93

0.000278

64.87

18

0.000806

58.97

0.000319

63.89

19

0.000939

58.02

0.00036

62.91

20

0.001079

57.07

0.000405

61.93

21

0.001215

56.13

0.000451

60.96

22

0.001327

55.2

0.000491

59.99

23

0.001406

54.27

0.000523

59.02

24

0.001461

53.35

0.00055

58.05

25

0.001508

52.43

0.000575

57.08

26

0.001559

51.51

0.000605

56.11

27

0.001612

50.58

0.000642

55.14

28

0.001671

49.67

0.000691

54.18

29

0.001734

48.75

0.000749

53.22

30

0.001798

47.83

0.000811

52.26

31

0.00186

46.92

0.000872

51.3

32

0.001926

46

0.000933

50.34

33

0.001994

45.09

0.00099

49.39

34

0.002067

44.18

0.001046

48.44

35

0.002147

43.27

0.001107

47.49

36

0.002233

42.36

0.001172

46.54

37

0.002318

41.46

0.001236

45.59

38

0.002399

40.55

0.001296

44.65

39

0.002483

39.65

0.001356

43.71

40

0.002581

38.75

0.001423

42.76

41

0.002697

37.84

0.001502

41.83

42

0.002828

36.95

0.001596

40.89

43

0.002976

36.05

0.001709

39.95

44

0.003145

35.16

0.00184

39.02

45

0.003339

34.26

0.001988

38.09

46

0.003566

33.38

0.002152

37.17

47

0.003831

32.5

0.002332

36.24

48

0.004142

31.62

0.002528

35.33

49

0.004498

30.75

0.002744

34.42

50

0.004888

29.88

0.00298

33.51

51

0.005319

29.03

0.00324

32.61

52

0.005808

28.18

0.003529

31.71

53

0.00636

27.34

0.003852

30.82

54

0.00697

26.51

0.004207

29.94

55

0.007627

25.7

0.00459

29.06

56

0.00832

24.89

0.004996

28.2

57

0.009047

24.1

0.005425

27.34

58

0.009803

23.31

0.005874

26.48

59

0.010591

22.54

0.006346

25.64

60

0.011447

21.77

0.00688

24.8

61

0.012352

21.02

0.007454

23.96

62

0.013248

20.28

0.008006

23.14

63

0.014117

19.54

0.008515

22.32

64

0.014995

18.81

0.009025

21.51

65

0.015987

18.09

0.00961

20.7

66

0.017107

17.38

0.01032

19.9

67

0.01828

16.67

0.011158

19.1

68

0.0195

15.97

0.012148

18.31

69

0.020829

15.28

0.013301

17.53

70

0.022364

14.6

0.014662

16.76

71

0.024169

13.92

0.01621

16

72

0.026249

13.25

0.017892

15.26

73

0.028642

12.59

0.019701

14.52

74

0.03138

11.95

0.0217

13.81

75

0.034593

11.32

0.024064

13.1

76

0.038235

10.71

0.026814

12.41

77

0.042159

10.12

0.029837

11.74

78

0.046336

9.54

0.033132

11.09

79

0.050917

8.98

0.03681

10.45

80

0.056205

8.43

0.041102

9.83

81

0.062327

7.91

0.04608

9.23

82

0.06919

7.4

0.051658

8.65

83

0.076844

6.91

0.057868

8.09

84

0.085407

6.44

0.064829

7.56

85

0.09501

6

0.07269

7.05

86

0.10577

5.58

0.081578

6.56

87

0.117771

5.18

0.091587

6.1

88

0.131063

4.8

0.102774

5.67

89

0.145666

4.45

0.11516

5.26

90

0.161582

4.12

0.128749

4.88

91

0.178797

3.82

0.143532

4.53

92

0.197287

3.54

0.159491

4.2

93

0.217013

3.29

0.1766

3.9

94

0.23793

3.06

0.194825

3.63

95

0.258655

2.87

0.213248

3.39

96

0.278786

2.69

0.23157

3.18

97

0.297897

2.54

0.249466

2.98

98

0.315556

2.4

0.266589

2.81

99

0.331333

2.28

0.282585

2.65

100

0.3479

2.16

0.29954

2.49

101

0.365295

2.05

0.317512

2.35

102

0.38356

1.94

0.336563

2.21

103

0.402738

1.83

0.356756

2.07

104

0.422875

1.73

0.378162

1.94

105

0.444018

1.64

0.400852

1.82

106

0.466219

1.54

0.424903

1.7

107

0.48953

1.45

0.450397

1.59

108

0.514007

1.37

0.477421

1.48

109

0.539707

1.29

0.506066

1.38

110

0.566692

1.21

0.53643

1.28

111

0.595027

1.13

0.568616

1.19

112

0.624778

1.06

0.602733

1.1

113

0.656017

0.99

0.638896

1.02

114

0.688818

0.92

0.67723

0.94

115

0.723259

0.86

0.717864

0.87

116

0.759422

0.8

0.759422

0.8

117

0.797393

0.74

0.797393

0.74

118

0.837263

0.68

0.837263

0.68

119

0.879126

0.63

0.879126

0.63


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