Life Expectancy for a 65-Year-Old Increases 1.6 years

A U.S. resident who turned 65 in 2014 could expect to live an average of 19.4 more years.

The average life expectancy at age 65 was 9.2% higher than the average life expectancy of a 65-year-old around 2000.

Analysts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have published data on shifts in U.S. life expectancy averages since 1900 in a new U.S. life tables report.

(Related: 5 Ways to Use the New US Life Tables)

The CDC, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, bases the tables on state vital statistics reports.

Analysts found that overall average life expectancy at birth increased 0.1 years between 2013 and 2014, to 78.9 years.

One table breaks life expectancy averages down by age, and it shows how the average life expectancy for each people of each age has changed since 1900.

For periods before 2014, the analysts give average life expectancy figures for three-year data periods around years ending in '0." The row for life expectancy for 65-year-olds, for example, shows the average for 2014, for 1999 through 2001, for 1989 through 1991, and so on, back till an average for 1900 through 1902.

The 79.9 year average for a newborn was up from an average of 76.9 years in the 1999-2001 data period, and up from 49.2 years in the 1900-1902 data period.

For 65-year-olds, who need good life expectancy projections to plan for retirement, average life expectancy has increased from 11.9 years in 1900-1902.

Between the 1989-1991 data period and the 1999-2001 data period, people in some groups appeared to suffer a drop in average life expectancy. The drop could have been the result of a combination of the effects of smoking and more accurate keeping.

People ages 100 and older, for example, saw their average life expectancy fall to 2.3 years, from 2.5 years, between the 1989-1991 period and the 1999-2001 period. Some have speculated that the apparent decline might be partly a result of improvements in states' efforts to collect data on the deaths of very old residents.

Between the 1999-2001 and 2014 reporting periods, life expectancy for people in all age groups improved.

The smallest increase was for 100-year-olds. Life expectancy for 100-year-olds increased to 2.3 years, from 2.27 years.

— Read Census Table Shows 37-Year-Olds Are Great Prospects on ThinkAdvisor