Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the point where half the population under study dies. So life expectancy is only meaningful for a population. It is not an estimate of how long you will live. However, that's the way many choose to look at it.
Life expectancy is a good starting point for
- retirement planning: how long does your retirement income need to last?
- estate planning: how large an estate
Estimating Your Life Expectancy
These calculators estimate your life expectancy:
Compiled life expectancy is available from
- life expectancy from birth by gender and province from Statistics Canada
- note that life expectancy is lower for the Canadian population than for insurable lives
Life insurance companies often build life expectancy calculators into the projection tools that advisors use for insurable lives.
Biases
Data can be tortured to show different results. There may be biases, depending on the source.
| Purpose | Possible Bias From Provider | Why |
|---|---|---|
| retirement planning | overestimating life expectancy | shows a need for more retirement income |
| estate planning | underestimating life expectancy | favours insurance over investing your money elsewhere |
| life annuities | overestimating life expectancy | suggests that you'll receive retirement income for more years |
Since life expectancy is a statistic, it's helpful to look at the consequences of dying 5 or 10 years before or beyond life expectancy.
Canadian Life Expectancy At Birth
The life expectancy of Canadians keeps improving. A child born in 2001 has a life expectancy of 82.2 years for females, 77.1 for males (source: Statistics Canada). The table shows the trends.
| Year | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| 1920-22 | 59 | 61 |
| 1930-32 | 60 | 62 |
| 1940-42 | 63 | 66 |
| 1950-52 | 66 | 71 |
| 1960-62 | 68 | 74 |
| 1970-72 | 69 | 76 |
| 1980-82 | 72 | 79 |
| 1990-92 | 75 | 81 |
Source: Statistics Canada (last modified on 2004-02-03)
This data is for the Canadian population, which includes lives that are too unhealthy to insure. Life expectancy is higher for insurable lives.
Links
- Your life expectancy exceeds 1 billion seconds
- the 10 countries with the longest life expectancy
