Life Expectancy! Mortality Experience! Can Someone Just Tell Me How Long I Can Expect To Live?

As a life insurance agent I’ve become used to the term mortality experience, how long a person can expect to live given a set of health issues. It was kind of creepy the one and only time I spoke with someone in the life settlement business. I gave him a scenario based on age and health issues and he said that the client’s mortality experience should be 6 years and 4 months. I asked what day the client could expect to die and the life settlement guy didn’t think that was all that amusing.

But the reason I bring this up is that there are very real, very stark differences in how long you can expect to live depending on your health and lifestyle.

In an article put out by a Dr Rutledge in Nevada, he had this to offer.

” First, How Long will you live?

Life Expectancy calculators are tools that use your personal information to predict how long someone can expect to live. Factors that have been shown to determine life expectancy include the your age, weight, smoking, drinking, your blood pressure and your family’s medical history. These factors are analyzed and compared against recent Mortality Tables.

Try the “The Life Expectancy Calculator”

For Example:		Normal Weight	Over Weight
Using the Life expectancy calculator a 39 year old woman weighing 350 lbs with high blood pressure is predicted to live to age 69. The same woman weighing 150 lbs with normal blood pressure is predicted to live to over 86 years! A difference of over 17 Years. Weight loss = Longer, Healthier Life.	Weight	150	350
	Age	39	39
	High Blood Pressure	Under Control	Poor Control
	Life Expectancy:	86.2 years	69 years
	A Difference of:	17.2 years!

You can also try “The Longevity Game” to get an estimate of your life expectancy and the effects of weight loss and resolution of high blood pressure and other obesity associated illnesses.

Using the MetLife Life Expectancy Calculator:

For Example:		Normal Weight	Over Weight
Using the MetLife Life expectancy calculator a 39 year old inactive single woman weighing 375 lbs with high blood pressure is predicted to live to age 75. The same 39 year old active woman weighing 150 lbs with normal blood pressure is predicted to live to over 88 years! A difference of over 13 Years. Weight loss = Longer, Healthier Life.	Weight	150	375
	Age	39	39
	High Blood Pressure	Under Control	Poor Control
	Activity	Active	Inactive
	Life Expectancy:	88 years	75 years
	A Difference of:	13 years!

Obesity Kills

Research shows that obesity contributes to a slew of medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and various cancers. So powerful are certain lifestyle choices that recommended diets along with maintenance of physical activity and appropriate body mass can, over time, reduce the incidence of cancer by 30 percent to 40 percent, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Caloric Restriction Leads to Weight Loss and a Much Longer Life”

Now Dr Rutledge is pushing something called the “mini gastric bypass” surgery, a laproscopic gastric bypass that he touts as safer than a traditional gastric bypass or a lap band. I don’t know much about the procedure or his credibiity, but the life expectancy calculator actually sent me on a search for a better one.

MSN Money has a life expectancy calculator that is supposed to help you come to grips with how long your retirement may be. Good questions. Try it and see what you think.

Bottom line. Family history, health and lifestyle write the script. The good news is that you can change the ending by changing the script.

This post is somewhat dated. Life insurance underwriting is changing and evolving continually. For more updated information check out some of the key word links. If you have a specific question or topic you need information for do a search. If you don’t find the answers you need contact me and we’ll make sure you get the information that is important to you.