Life Expectancy and Median Statistics

You have a say in what age you reach.

The Living Test --- the unwritten exam that shows how many years we'll manage to squeeze out of our lives. Some will squeeze out more, some less. While much of the score is in our genes at birth, choices we make can increase or decrease how many years we live. They may also determine whether we have the health to enjoy those years.

The Living Test is more important than any wealth score. It gives us an idea of how much life we may "leave on the table" by chance or negligence. We can measure this by looking at the statistics of life expectancy in a slightly odd way.

One of the most common population number sets is called a "Life Table." It shows the long trail of losses from birth to age 100, expressed as the number surviving from year to year.

Beginning with an original group of 100,000 people, the table shows that 83,789 live to begin their 65th year and 82,607 finish it.

Median is 81.

It also shows that 52,178 of the original 100,000 begin their 81st year, but only 49,173 finish it, making it the median year of life. From there, the attrition continues until only 2,851 of the original 100,000 begin their 100th year and 2,095 finish it.

As we all know, no one gets out alive. While life expectancy in America, broadly speaking, was 77.3 years in 2002, the brute fact is that many don't live that long. Many others, however, live much longer.

•The top 2 percent live to be over 100.
•The top 10 percent live to their 94th year or longer.
•The top 25 percent live to their 89th year or longer.
•The top 50 percent live to their 81st year or longer.
•The bottom 25 percent live only to their 71st year.
•The bottom 10 percent live only to their 57th year.
•The bottom 1 percent live only to their 16th year.


Other Resources: www.agingresearch.org for life expectancy calculator