Chart of the Month: Life Expectancy

Chart of the Month

Once a month, we will take a deeper dive into one of my favorite charts. The chart of the month will range from core investment philosophies to timely events. Overall, the goal of this series is to give investors a greater understanding of what goes can impact an investment portfolio.

Chart Breakdown:

This chart shows the probability of a person reaching age 80 as well as reaching age 90. The chart is broken down by men, women and even married couples. The married couple looks at the probability of at least one of the members of the couple living to age 80 and/or age 90.

What is This Chart Telling Us?

This chart shows the life expectancy rates for men and women into retirement. It’s probably no surprise that women tend to live longer than men. However, the life expectancy of those in a married couple outpace both men and women. There is a very high probability of 90% that at least one person in a couple will be alive at age 80 and almost a 50% chance that one member will be alive until age 90.  

Why is this Important?

This chart is very important to understand when it comes to planning for retirement. Most people believe that they will die much sooner than what is probable. As a result, they don’t have the funds saved to cover a longer retirement. The fact is, people are living longer and we need to plan for a retiree’s money to last in retirement. We need to make sure that a portion of the assets available are invested aggressively enough to combat inflation. Annuities can also be a good option for a portion of a retiree’s assets to ensure they don’t outlive their retirement assets.