Life Expectancy Calculator

In the Social Security Administration's 2023 period life table (used in the 2026 Trustees Report), a man at exact age 65 has 18.12 years of life expectancy left and a woman has 20.66 years. That puts the average age at death at 83.1 for men and 85.7 for women who reach 65.

SSA's note says the period life expectancy at a given age for 2023 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 2023 over the course of their remaining life. It applies one year's death rates to every future year, so it describes that year's mortality rather than forecasting any group's actual lifespan.

Life expectancy at birth counts everyone born, including those who die young. Once you have reached an age, those earlier deaths no longer count against you. In the SSA table a man's expected age at death is 75.8 years at birth but 83.1 for a man who has reached 65; for a woman it is 81.1 at birth and 85.7 at 65.

No. It is the average remaining time across everyone in the table at that age, not a limit on how long one person lives. That is why the calculator also shows the chance of being alive at 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100, which comes from the number of survivors the table lists at each age.

The break-even age is the age where cumulative benefits from claiming later overtake claiming earlier. Comparing it with your life expectancy and your chance of reaching it frames the trade-off. The life table is an average for the population, not your health or family history, so use the Social Security break-even calculator to see the crossover ages for your own benefit.

No. SSA's table gives separate figures for males and females at each exact age and nothing else, so the result does not adjust for health, smoking, income, or family history.