Life Expectancy Calculator
Estimate your remaining years from the official SSA life table
Last updated July 2026
Method: Looks up the "Life expectancy" e(x) column of the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) 2023 period life table for your exact age and sex, then adds it to your age for the expected age at death and to the current year for the projected calendar year.
Included: Expected remaining years, expected age at death, projected year reached, and a reference table of life expectancy by current age for both sexes.
Not included: Your personal health, family history, smoking, weight, income, race, or location; cohort/generation projections; and any medical or financial advice. This is a population average, not a personal prediction.
⏳ Your details
Enter an exact age from 0 to 119.
📊 Remaining life expectancy
⚠️ Note
This is a population average from the Social Security Administration period life table (2023), not a personal prediction. It does not factor in your individual health, family history, lifestyle, income, or where you live. Half of people at any age outlive the average and half do not.
📋 Life expectancy by current age
Remaining years and expected age at death from the SSA 2023 period life table.
| Current age | Male: years left | Male: to age | Female: years left | Female: to age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At birth (0) | 75.8 | 75.8 | 81.1 | 81.1 |
| 10 | 66.4 | 76.4 | 71.6 | 81.6 |
| 20 | 56.7 | 76.7 | 61.7 | 81.7 |
| 30 | 47.5 | 77.5 | 52.1 | 82.1 |
| 40 | 38.6 | 78.6 | 42.6 | 82.6 |
| 50 | 29.9 | 79.9 | 33.5 | 83.5 |
| 60 | 21.8 | 81.8 | 24.7 | 84.7 |
| 65 | 18.1 | 83.1 | 20.7 | 85.7 |
| 70 | 14.7 | 84.7 | 16.8 | 86.8 |
| 80 | 8.5 | 88.5 | 9.8 | 89.8 |
| 90 | 4.1 | 94.1 | 4.8 | 94.8 |
Life expectancy calculator: how long will I live?
This life expectancy calculator answers "how long will I live?" using the official Social Security Administration (SSA) period life table. Enter your age and sex and it returns your average remaining years, the age you'd reach, and the calendar year. For example, a 40-year-old man has about 38.6 more years on average - reaching roughly age 79. It is a population average, not a personal forecast.
Longevity is one input into several money questions on this site: the Retirement Calculator checks whether you are on track, the Retirement Withdrawal Calculator shows how long savings last, the RMD Calculator handles required distributions, and the Social Security Calculator estimates your benefit. Knowing your expected horizon makes all four more realistic.
What the calculator does
It performs a simple, transparent lookup. The SSA table lists, for every exact age from 0 to 119, a value called e(x) - the average number of years a person at that exact age is expected to live, given the mortality rates observed in 2023. The calculator reads the e(x) value for your age and sex, then:
Expected age at death = current age + e(x) So a 50-year-old woman with an e(x) of 33.45 is expected to reach about age 83.5, and the projected calendar year is simply the current year plus 33.45, rounded. There is no hidden model - every number comes straight from the published SSA table.
A worked example
Suppose you are a 65-year-old man. The SSA 2023 table gives e(65) = 18.12 years for males. Add that to 65 and you get an expected age at death of about 83.1. A 65-year-old woman has e(65) = 20.66, reaching about 85.7. Notice both numbers sit above the life-expectancy-at-birth figures (75.8 for men, 81.1 for women): having already survived to 65, you have cleared the earlier risks, so your expected total lifespan rises. This "survivorship" effect is the single most misunderstood part of life expectancy.
Life expectancy by current age
This table reads directly from the SSA 2023 period life table. "Years left" is the e(x) value; "to age" adds it to the current age to give the expected age at death, for both males and females:
| Current age | Male: years left | Male: to age | Female: years left | Female: to age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At birth (0) | 75.8 | 75.8 | 81.1 | 81.1 |
| 10 | 66.4 | 76.4 | 71.6 | 81.6 |
| 20 | 56.7 | 76.7 | 61.7 | 81.7 |
| 30 | 47.5 | 77.5 | 52.1 | 82.1 |
| 40 | 38.6 | 78.6 | 42.6 | 82.6 |
| 50 | 29.9 | 79.9 | 33.5 | 83.5 |
| 60 | 21.8 | 81.8 | 24.7 | 84.7 |
| 65 | 18.1 | 83.1 | 20.7 | 85.7 |
| 70 | 14.7 | 84.7 | 16.8 | 86.8 |
| 80 | 8.5 | 88.5 | 9.8 | 89.8 |
| 90 | 4.1 | 94.1 | 4.8 | 94.8 |
Reading down the "to age" columns shows the survivorship effect clearly: the expected age at death climbs from about 75.8 at birth to 83.1 at 65 and 88.5 at 80 for men, because each row conditions on having survived that far.
Why women live longer: the gap by age
Female life expectancy is higher than male at every age in the SSA data, but the size of the advantage shrinks as people get older. This table shows the female-minus-male difference in remaining years, computed from the same 2023 table:
| Current age | Male years left | Female years left | Female advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| At birth (0) | 75.79 | 81.06 | 5.27 |
| 20 | 56.69 | 61.74 | 5.05 |
| 40 | 38.59 | 42.64 | 4.05 |
| 65 | 18.12 | 20.66 | 2.54 |
| 80 | 8.50 | 9.82 | 1.32 |
| 90 | 4.11 | 4.80 | 0.69 |
The gap starts at about 5.3 years at birth and steadily closes to roughly 2.5 years at 65 and well under one year by 90. Demographers link the male-female difference to a combination of biology and behavior - historically higher male rates of smoking, dangerous occupations, and fatal accidents, alongside hormonal and genetic factors. The calculator does not estimate any of this; it simply reflects what the population data show.
Period vs. cohort life tables
There are two ways to build a life table, and the distinction matters for interpreting your result:
- Period life table (used here): takes the death rates from a single calendar year - 2023 - and applies them across a person's whole remaining life, as if mortality never changed. It is a clean snapshot of today's mortality and is the standard published figure.
- Cohort (generation) life table: tries to follow an actual birth year and project how death rates will fall over that group's lifetime thanks to future medical and public-health progress. Because it assumes improvement, it usually produces somewhat higher life expectancies than the period table.
In plain terms, the period figure likely understates how long today's younger people will actually live, since mortality has tended to improve over time. Treat this calculator's output as a conservative, current-conditions baseline rather than a best-guess of the far future.
Life expectancy at retirement ages
For retirement planning, the numbers around ages 62-70 matter most. From the SSA 2023 table:
| Age | Male: to age | Female: to age | Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 82.3 | 85.1 | Earliest Social Security age |
| 65 | 83.1 | 85.7 | Medicare eligibility |
| 67 | 83.7 | 86.1 | Full retirement age (born 1960+) |
| 70 | 84.7 | 86.8 | Max delayed-credit age |
A key planning takeaway: a 65-year-old man is expected to live to about 83 and a woman to about 86, so a married couple should plan for at least one partner reaching the late 80s or beyond. Because these are averages, prudent planning usually assumes a longer horizon - many advisers model to age 90 or 95 - to reduce the risk of outliving savings.
What this number does - and does not - tell you
Life expectancy is an average over millions of people. Two things follow. First, it carries no information about you personally: your own odds are shaped by things the table ignores - smoking, blood pressure, weight, exercise, income, education, access to care, and family history can each shift an individual's outlook by years. Second, actual lifespans spread widely around the mean; roughly half of people at any age outlive the figure, and a meaningful share live a decade or more beyond it. The output is best read as the center of a wide distribution, useful for framing decisions rather than for pinning down a date.
How to use the calculator
- Select your sex: the SSA table has separate columns for males and females, and the difference is several years, so this changes the result meaningfully.
- Enter your current age: use your age at your last birthday, from 0 to 119. The table is by exact age, so a whole number is fine.
- Read the three outputs: expected remaining years (the raw e(x) value), expected age at death (age plus e(x)), and the projected calendar year (this year plus e(x)).
- Check the reference table: the row matching your age is highlighted so you can see how it compares with other ages and the opposite sex.
Factors the table cannot see
Because this is a population average, it deliberately omits the personal factors that most influence longevity. The biggest, according to public-health research, include:
- Smoking: the single largest lifestyle factor, associated with roughly a decade of lost life expectancy for lifelong smokers.
- Cardiovascular and metabolic health: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and body weight all move the odds.
- Physical activity and diet: regular activity and a healthy diet are consistently linked to longer life.
- Socioeconomic factors: income, education, and access to healthcare correlate strongly with lifespan in US data.
- Family history and genetics: a family pattern of longevity or early disease shifts individual risk.
None of these are inputs here, which is exactly why the result is a baseline reference rather than a personalized estimate.
Key terms explained
- Life expectancy e(x): the average number of additional years a person at exact age x is expected to live, under a given set of mortality rates.
- Period life table: a table using one calendar year's death rates applied across all remaining ages - a snapshot of current mortality.
- Cohort life table: a table that projects changing death rates across a real birth group's lifetime, usually giving higher expectancies.
- Survivorship effect: the reason expected age at death rises with current age - each year survived removes another year of risk.
- Social Security-area population: the population SSA uses for these tables, covering essentially the entire US.
Life expectancy and your money
The practical value of a longevity estimate is planning how long income has to last. A longer expected horizon means a lower safe withdrawal rate and a bigger nest egg; a couple planning together must account for the survivor living years past the first death. A sensible sequence is: estimate your horizon here, test whether you are on track with the Retirement Calculator, see how long a balance lasts with the Retirement Withdrawal Calculator, size mandatory withdrawals with the RMD Calculator, and decide when to claim with the Social Security Calculator - where delaying benefits pays off precisely if you expect to live past the break-even age.
Limitations and assumptions
- It is a period table reflecting 2023 mortality only; it does not project future improvements in longevity.
- It uses national averages and ignores every personal, medical, and socioeconomic factor.
- It splits results only by sex - not by race, state, income, or health status, all of which affect real lifespans.
- Outputs are averages with wide spread; individual lifespans vary enormously around the mean.
- It is for general information, not medical, financial, or actuarial advice.
Sources
- U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) - Actuarial Life Table (2023 period life table, 2026 Trustees Report). Source of every e(x) value used here.
- U.S. Social Security Administration - Period Life Tables for other years and background on period vs. cohort tables.
⚠️ Common mistakes & edge cases
Subtracting your age from life expectancy at birth
A 65-year-old is not expected to live 75.8 - 65 = 10.8 more years. Because you have already survived the risky earlier decades, your remaining expectancy is 18.1 years (to age 83.1). Always read life expectancy at your current age, not at birth.
Treating the average as a personal prediction
The figure is a population mean. Roughly half of people outlive it, many by a decade or more. It says nothing about your health, so do not read it as a countdown - use it as a planning range.
Planning finances only to the average age
Budgeting to run out of money exactly at your expected age at death leaves a large chance of outliving savings. Most planners deliberately assume a longer horizon, often age 90 or 95, precisely because so many people live past the mean.
Ignoring period vs. cohort
This is a period table using 2023 rates held constant. If mortality keeps improving, a younger person may actually live longer than the period figure suggests, so treat it as a current-conditions baseline, not a forecast.
❓ Frequently asked questions
How long will I live if I'm 65?
According to the SSA 2023 period life table, a 65-year-old US male has about 18.1 more years of life expectancy on average - reaching roughly age 83.1 - and a 65-year-old US female has about 20.7 more years, reaching about age 85.7. These are population averages: at any age, half of people live longer than the figure and half live less, and the number says nothing about your individual health.
Is this based on my health?
No. This calculator uses the Social Security Administration's period life table, which is built from the mortality rates of the entire US Social Security-area population in a single year (2023). It reflects the average across everyone at your exact age and sex. It does not factor in your weight, blood pressure, smoking status, family history, income, or lifestyle, so it is a baseline reference, not a personal prediction.
What's the difference between life expectancy at birth and at 65?
Life expectancy at birth (75.8 years for males, 81.1 for females) averages in the risk of dying young - in infancy, accidents, and earlier illness. Once you have already survived to 65, those early risks no longer apply, so your expected total lifespan is higher: about 83.1 for men and 85.7 for women. That is why 'life expectancy at 65' is larger than 'life expectancy at birth minus 65' - survivors of the risky decades are expected to live past the birth figure.
Why do women live longer?
In the SSA 2023 table, female life expectancy exceeds male at every age: the gap is about 5.3 years at birth (81.1 vs 75.8) and narrows to about 2.5 years at 65 (85.7 vs 83.1) and under 1 year by age 85. Researchers attribute the difference to a mix of biological factors (hormonal and genetic) and behavioral ones (historically higher rates of smoking, occupational hazards, and fatal accidents among men). The calculator reflects this directly from the official data rather than estimating it.
Does the calculator predict my exact age at death?
No. It reports a statistical average (the e(x) column) for a large population. Actual lifespans are spread widely around that average - many people live well into their 90s while others do not reach the mean. Treat the 'expected age at death' as the center of a broad distribution, useful for planning ranges, not as a countdown for any one person.
How long will I live if I'm 40?
The SSA 2023 period table gives a 40-year-old US male about 38.6 more years (reaching roughly age 78.6) and a 40-year-old US female about 42.6 more years (reaching about age 82.6). As with every age, these are averages for the whole population at that exact age and sex, not a forecast for your specific circumstances.
What is a period life table?
A period life table applies the death rates observed in one calendar year (here, 2023) to a hypothetical group as they age, as if those single-year rates stayed fixed for their whole lives. It is a snapshot of current mortality. The alternative, a cohort (generation) life table, tries to project how death rates will actually change over a real birth group's lifetime and usually produces somewhat higher expectancies. This calculator uses the SSA period table because it is the standard published reference.
Why does my expected age at death go up as I get older?
Because life expectancy is conditional on having already survived to your current age. Each year you live, you clear another year of mortality risk, so the average age you are expected to reach edges upward. A newborn male averages age 75.8, but a man who reaches 65 averages 83.1, one who reaches 80 averages 88.5, and one who reaches 90 averages 94.1. Survivors keep 'earning' additional expected years.
What data source does this calculator use?
It uses the US Social Security Administration's Actuarial Life Table (period life table) for 2023, as published in the 2026 Trustees Report at ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html. The embedded values are the 'Life expectancy' e(x) column for males and females at every exact age from 0 to 119. SSA revises the table roughly once a year; we update the figures when a new table is published.
Is this the same as US life expectancy in the news?
The headline 'US life expectancy' figure usually is life expectancy at birth from either SSA or the CDC/NCHS, and the two agencies use slightly different populations and methods, so numbers differ by a few tenths of a year. This tool uses SSA's figures, which cover the Social Security-area population. The advantage of a calculator over a single headline number is that it also gives life expectancy at your current age, which is far more useful once you are past childhood.
How does life expectancy change at 70, 80, and 90?
It keeps rising in absolute terms because you have survived more risk. From the SSA 2023 table: at 70 a man expects about 14.7 more years (to age 84.7) and a woman 16.8 (to 86.8); at 80 a man expects 8.5 more (to 88.5) and a woman 9.8 (to 89.8); at 90 a man expects 4.1 more (to 94.1) and a woman 4.8 (to 94.8). The male-female gap shrinks steadily with age.
Can I use this for retirement or Social Security planning?
As a rough longevity baseline, yes - knowing that a 65-year-old couple has a good chance of one partner living into their late 80s or 90s helps size how long savings must last. Pair it with the Retirement, Retirement Withdrawal, RMD, and Social Security calculators. But because it is a population average and ignores your health, most planners deliberately assume a longer horizon than the mean (for example, planning to age 90 or 95) to guard against outliving your money.
Does the 2023 table reflect the pandemic?
US life expectancy fell in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and then recovered as mortality eased. The 2023 period table used here reflects 2023 death rates, after most of that rebound, so it is higher than the pandemic-low tables but is still a single-year snapshot that will shift as SSA publishes newer data.
💡 Good to know
Survivors keep gaining years
Life expectancy is conditional on having reached your current age. That is why a 65-year-old is expected to live to about 83 and an 80-year-old to about 88.5 - each year survived removes a year of risk and nudges the expected age at death upward.
It is an average, not your fate
About half of people outlive the figure, some by many years. Your own odds depend heavily on factors the table cannot see - smoking, fitness, blood pressure, income, and family history - so treat the result as a baseline, not a verdict.
Plan money for the long tail
Because so many people live past the mean, sizing retirement income only to your expected age at death is risky. Assuming a longer horizon - often age 90 or 95 - is a common way to guard against outliving your savings.