# What is your remaining estimated life expectancy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650 "2017-05-29T15:09:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/1 "2017-05-29T15:09:12Z")
That “Will humans land on Mars in my lifetime?” thread is the inspiration here: This time you have a choice as to how you want to do it: online calculator (which will include questions on lifestyle and family history and such, tho I cannot swear for its absolute accuracy), or [the Social Security tables](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html) for the quick and dirty among us. Age 54, says I’ll be 98 (both my maternal biological grandmother and her mother lived to be 99), so +44. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/2 "2017-05-29T19:42:08Z")
I can’t figure out that Social Security chart. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/3 "2017-05-29T19:54:28Z")
Wildly different results depending on the source. The SSA table says around 16 years. One calculator says 28 years. Other calculators want my email address so I don’t know what they ended up with. Since I’m 67, apparently I will die some time between 83 and 95. Sounds about right to me. I marked the button in between those two values. What disturbs me is that I did my husband on that same calculator and apparently I am going to outlive him by 10 years. I do not look forward to that. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/4 "2017-05-29T20:01:40Z")
I figured it out now. SSI has me dead around 78, and an online says 82 and 89. Sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![allotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@allotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allotrope)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/5 "2017-05-29T20:23:26Z")
I’m already dead. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/6 "2017-05-29T20:29:44Z")
I know things these tables don’t . ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/7 "2017-05-29T22:04:19Z")
The chart is for the year 2013. I used it based on my age in 2013, which was 54, giving me 29½. This year when I turn 58 it will leave me 25½ (still going by the 2013 baseline). Either way the SSA figures I’ll live till 83½. Some years ago I used one of those online longevity calculators and it told me I’ll live to be 88. Which, by eerie coincidence, was the longevity predicted for me by the occult divination game “Ka-Bala, the Mystic Game that Foretells the Future” back in 1967 when I was 8. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/8 "2017-05-29T22:32:16Z")
Social Security table say 13 years more. I factored in my parents age when they died, one grandmothers age, and my general superb health. The raises it to 20+ ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/9 "2017-05-29T23:07:51Z")
I selected 21–25, going on the Social Security table, even though rounded off it would come to 26. So, combined with the other estimate(s), I ought to have selected 26–30. So mentally adjust that when looking at the table. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/10 "2017-05-29T23:25:22Z")
I did it the wrong way. Should have checked 26 years, did wrong one. Of course I’m a New Zealander and on average we live longer than Americans. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/11 "2017-05-29T23:34:47Z")
Yay our health system! 37 years for me. Sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/12 "2017-05-29T23:57:17Z")
The first online test I found gave me a good decade more than the SSA table (plausible; I have no major health problems and good family history), but says that I’m 1.6 years ahead of typical for my age and sex. I suspect that they’re comparing to the population of people who’ve taken their test, and that test-takers tend to exaggeration on the more subjective questions. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/13 "2017-05-30T00:31:31Z")
The chart says 20 more years. I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/14 "2017-05-30T01:19:57Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > I figured it out now. SSI has me dead around 78, and an online says 82 and 89. Sounds about right. I’ve got 50 years to go. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/15 "2017-05-30T03:42:46Z")
I for one plan to live forever. So far, so good. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/16 "2017-05-30T04:09:27Z")
I chose 16-20. I’m only 39 but I have a history of an incurable cancer with abysmal 10 year survival rates. I’ve made it 4 years in complete remission and those survival rates reflect the more typical age of onset in the 70s-80s. So I was generous to myself! ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/17 "2017-05-30T04:10:28Z")
SSA chart says 22 more to go; the calculator with the most personalized questions say 42 more. My mileage may vary? Just keep me vital until very close to the end and anywhere in between is fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/18 "2017-05-30T05:25:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I for one plan to live forever. So far, so good. Me too. And I’ll only be wrong for a second or two. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/19 "2017-05-30T05:44:06Z")
On the plus side, I don’t smoke or drink and I’ve got great genes (I’ve had several relatives on both sides of my family make it into their eighties and nineties). On the other hand, a realistic appraisal of my lifestyle says I won’t make it that far. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650/20 "2017-05-30T07:05:15Z")
Using the Social Security chart I was able to answer a question that had just occurred to me while I was out, what are the relative chances of people of various ages dying tomorrow? Looks like 1 chance in 23,000 for me, about ten times that of a 33 year old. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remaining-estimated-life-expectancy/787650.md?page=2)