Longevity Calculator

It would be nice to have a crystal ball to tell us how long we need to plan for in retirement, but the truth is that none of us know for sure. What we do know is that we're all living longer these days, and the last thing that we want is to run out of money in retirement.

Our Longevity Calculator can help give you an indication of how long you are likely to live, based on your age and the quality of your health. It's based on complex data from the UK Pensions Industry* – but it's important to know that your results aren't set in stone – they are just an indication of how long you are likely to live.

These definitions and examples will help you:

Excellent health - assumes that you are feeling pretty good, haven’t been to the doctors for as long as you can remember. Your height and weight are fine, and you don’t take any tablets for any health conditions.

Reasonable health – assumes that you are feeling okay health wise, but not brilliant. You have managed to give up smoking, and you take medication for Type 2 Diabetes.

Challenging health – assumes that your health is struggling as a result of a more serious condition such as Parkinsons that is impacting on your activities of daily living.

Critical health – assumes that you are suffering from a serious medical condition such as cancer, and undergoing treatment for it. You find it difficult to get about, and possibly need assistance with day to day activities.

*The Continuous Mortality Investigation (2017)

What next?

Once you've worked out the length of retirement you are planning for, you might want to consider how much your retirement might cost by looking at our Retirement Budget Planner. It's also useful to look at how much tax you are going to have to pay.