How long should I plan for in retirement?

TL;DR. Plan to age 92-95 if you are single and age 95-98 if you are a couple. The SSA period life table average understates planning horizons because it reflects the midpoint, not the upper tail. Couples face joint longevity — the probability that at least one spouse lives past 90 exceeds 50%. A life expectancy calculator built for retirement uses cohort-adjusted mortality and joint-life math to set a defensible planning horizon.

Why average life expectancy is the wrong number for retirement planning

The Social Security Administration's 2024 period life table puts average life expectancy for a 65-year-old man at about 84 and a 65-year-old woman at about 87. Many people plan to those ages and stop. That is a coin-flip plan — by definition, half of retirees will outlive the average.

Retirement planning should target the upper tail, not the midpoint. For a single 65-year-old woman, there is roughly a 25% chance of living past 93 and a 10% chance of reaching 97. For couples, joint life expectancy — the age to which at least one spouse survives — stretches the horizon further. A married couple both aged 65 has a 50% probability that one of them reaches 92 and a 25% probability that one reaches 97.

Here is a worked example. Suppose a married couple retires at 65 with a $1.2 million portfolio and annual spending of $55,000 (net of Social Security). If they plan only to age 85 — roughly the individual male average — they need the portfolio to last 20 years. But joint longevity gives a 50% chance one spouse lives to 92 (27 years) and a 25% chance to 97 (32 years). Planning to age 85 leaves a one-in-four chance of a 12-year funding gap. A longevity calculator surfaces this gap before it becomes a crisis.

The Society of Actuaries' Longevity Illustrator and cohort mortality tables (which adjust for ongoing mortality improvements) push these numbers even higher. Financial planners commonly recommend a planning horizon of age 95 for singles and age 97-100 for couples — not because every client will live that long, but because the cost of running out of money is catastrophic while the cost of having money left over is merely a smaller inheritance.

Try it with your numbers

What a good life expectancy calculator should show

• Individual life expectancy at the 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile — not just the average.
• Joint life expectancy for couples showing the probability that at least one spouse survives to each target age.
• Cohort-adjusted mortality that accounts for future improvements in life expectancy beyond the static period table.
• A clear planning-age recommendation based on risk tolerance (e.g., plan to the 75th percentile for moderate risk, 90th for conservative).
• The ability to adjust for health status, smoking, and family history to personalize the projection. AdvisorCal's Life Expectancy Calculator handles all of the above. Pair it with the Withdrawal Longevity Calculator to see whether your portfolio lasts as long as you do, the Retirement Readiness Calculator to benchmark your savings progress, or the Inflation Impact Calculator to see how purchasing power erodes over a 30+ year retirement.

Key facts

• SSA period life expectancy at 65: approximately 84 for men, 87 for women (2024 tables).
• Joint longevity (couple, both 65): 50% chance one spouse lives past 92; 25% chance one reaches 97.
• Recommended planning age for singles: 92-95, targeting the 75th-90th percentile of the mortality distribution.
• Recommended planning age for couples: 95-98, reflecting joint survivorship.
• Cohort vs. period tables: period tables freeze mortality rates at today's level; cohort tables project future improvements and add 1-3 years to life expectancy estimates.
• Cost of underestimating: running out of money at 88 with one spouse still alive and healthy is an irreversible planning failure.

Common follow-ups

Should I just plan to age 100 to be safe? Planning to 100 is conservative but can lead to under-spending. A 65-year-old has roughly a 3-5% chance of reaching 100. The better approach is to plan to the 90th percentile (approximately age 95 for a single person, 97-98 for a couple) and use flexible withdrawal strategies — such as guardrails or dynamic spending rules — to adapt if you outlive that horizon.

How does health status change the planning age? Significantly. A 65-year-old non-smoker in excellent health has a life expectancy 3-5 years longer than a 65-year-old smoker with chronic conditions. Family history matters too — if both parents lived past 90, your personal longevity estimate shifts upward. A retirement life expectancy calculator that adjusts for health inputs gives a more accurate target than population averages.

What is joint life expectancy and why does it matter for couples? Joint life expectancy is the age to which at least one member of a couple is expected to survive. For two 65-year-olds, the joint 50th percentile is about 92 — roughly 5-7 years beyond the individual male average. This means the surviving spouse (usually the wife) needs income long after the first death. Couples who plan only to the husband's average life expectancy often leave the widow critically underfunded.

Does the life expectancy calculator account for the SECURE 2.0 Act RMD changes? The life expectancy calculator focuses on mortality and planning horizons, not required minimum distributions. However, the longer your planning horizon, the more important RMD timing becomes. Use the RMD Calculator alongside life expectancy to model how forced distributions interact with your spending plan over a 30+ year retirement.

When this doesn't apply

Life expectancy planning assumes the retiree is funding retirement from a portfolio or combination of portfolio and Social Security. It is less relevant for retirees whose income is fully annuitized (pension plus Social Security covering all expenses), because annuity income does not deplete regardless of lifespan. It also does not apply to terminal illness scenarios where a physician has provided a specific prognosis — in those cases, planning shifts to estate, legacy, and care-cost questions rather than longevity risk.

Sources

• SSA Period Life Table, 2024
• Society of Actuaries Longevity Illustrator

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