How long might you live?
Knowing how long you might live is important in helping you know how long your retirement benefits may need to last, especially if you’re considering the drawdown or cash options as you’ll need to make sure the money lasts as long as you need it to. Improved healthcare, working conditions and a reduction in smoking rates have all contributed to an increasing life expectancy from generation to generation.
When making your decision, you should consider your spending needs for however long you think you’ll live. This can have quite an impact on how you choose to take your benefits and what you leave behind for any dependants. If you’re considering the drawdown option, you’ll need to make sure your money lasts as long as you need it to.
The National average for a typical 65-year-old, in good health, as at January 2022 suggests they could expect to reach an age of:
So, if you retired now at age 65, you could live for at least 20 years after that. That’s 20 years of paying for the things you’ll need and want.
But we’re not all ‘typical’, it's possible you could live a shorter time or much longer than this. In fact, there’s at least a 5% chance a 65-year-old retiring now could live to 100 so they’d need to manage their money wisely! Here’s a breakdown of percentages to give you some more idea.
| A 65-year-old woman retiring now has | A 65-year-old man retiring now has | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| A 65-year-old woman has a 75% chance of living to | 87 | A 65-year-old man has a75% chance of living to | 85 |
| A 65-year-old woman has a 50% chance of living to | 94 | A 65-year-old man has a50% chance of living to | 92 |
| A 65-year-old woman has a 25% chance of living to | 98 | A 65-year-old man has a25% chance of living to | 96 |
| A 65-year-old woman has a 5% chance of living to | 100 | A 65-year-old man has a3% chance of living to | 100 |
*Data source: Office of National Statistics (ONS 2021)
To get your personal life expectancy estimate, enter your age and sex into the Office for National Statistics calculator below to find out how long you could live, and the likelihood of you living to be 100 years old!
Office for National Statistics calculator
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