Now that super funds, fund managers and other financial service providers have (nearly) survived the GFC, the next big issue concerning the super industry is ‘adequacy’, that is, the worry that Australians will outlive their retirement savings. Okay, the industry is pretty obsessed with the current Government reviews into super, and the ridiculous debate on the merits of commissions for financial advice (ban them!), but the hottest topic is the risk of Australians running out of money in retirement and relying solely on the Age Pension.
A key bit of information in any retirement plan is a guesstimate on your expected life span – your life expectancy. Anyone saving for retirement wants to save enough to at least last their lifetime, at their desired level of income (see A comfortable retirement: how much is enough?). Many Australians also want to leave money to family after they die.
Every five years, the Australian Government Actuary releases the latest data on average life expectancies, that is, how many years you’re expected to live, on average. The table below contains the most up-to-date information (released on 27 November 2009) on expected lifetimes.
You can find out how long you’re expected to live, on average, by locating your current age in the table, and then checking the ‘female’ column or ‘male’ column, depending on your gender. For example, if you’re 55 years of age, you can expect to live another 30.53 years (if a female) and 26.95 years (if a male). If you’re 65 years, your average life expectancy is 21.62 years (if a female) and 18.54 years (if a male).
The longer you live, the greater your life expectancy becomes. At age 55 years, a female can expect to live to 85.53 years on average, while a 70 year-old female can expect to live to 87.42 years – an extra two years.
Note: The table contains average life expectancies, and you may well live longer than the average. For more information on Australian life expectancies see Updated life tables: is the tide shifting for Australian life expectancies?
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Source: Compiled from Australian Life Tables, 2005-2007, Australian Government Actuary (www.aga.gov.au). Released 27 November 2009. Next update due in 2014.
Hi - I'm Trish Power and I am the author of 
Hi Trish
Thanks for your monthly newsletter.
In the 2 articles about life expectancy, you use the phrase ‘average life expectancy’.
In my experience most people (and I include myself before I did some more research a few years ago) don’t really know what ‘average life expectancy’ really means. I used to ask people and very few had the concept clear in their mind
I suggest that most 65 year old males don’t really know the meaning of the phrase ‘at age 65 a male can expect to live 18 years on average’.
But if you tell a 65 year old male (who usually still thinks of himself as invulnerable) that half of today’s 65 year old males will be dead in 18 years (and of course the other half won’t) that usually gets their attention pretty quickly, and often leads to some constructive discussions about their future planning.
Of course we all plan to be in the half who live longer than ‘average’, but it makes the ‘what-if’ discussions a little more focused.
I suggest that in future, you include a definition of ‘average life expectancy’ in future references to this important matter.
All the best for Christmas and 2010.
Terry