It's not just how long you live...

Source: ONS

“How long am I going to live?’ is one of those questions that we tend to pay more attention to, the older we are. One quick way to find an answer is to use the Office for National Statistics (ONS) life expectancy calculator. That will tell you that if you are a baby boy aged 1, your life expectancy is 87 years, 4 years less than your twin sister. If you are 65, the corresponding averages are 85 years and 88 years.

Those numbers need qualification, which is why other answers are easy to find:

• They are averages and, as experience tells us, not everyone lives an average lifespan. For example, at age 65, the ONS calculated that there is a 1-in-4 chance of a man living until 92 and a woman to 95.
• The figures are based on the UK population, so bundle together cigarette smokers (still about 12% of the UK adult population) and non-smokers.

The single UK figure also hides significant regional differences. ONS research suggests a ten-year difference in male life expectancy at birth between Blackpool and the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

One aspect of the how-long-will-I-live question, which attracts less attention is healthy life expectancy. The ONS defines this as a measure of health-related wellbeing that represents the average time an individual is expected to live in "very good" or "good" general health, based on how individuals perceive their general health. The latest ONS research, published in February 2026 using 2022–24 data, shows at birth:

• men can expect to have a healthy life expectancy of 60.7 years; and
• women, 60.9 years.

Those figures are down by 1.8 years and 2.5 years, respectively, from the previous three-year non-overlapping period (2019–21).

Similar issues about averages and the bundling of different lifestyles and regions apply to the analysis of healthy life expectancy as to general life expectancy. However, the point that stands out is the gap between the two. This has important consequences for financial planning, particularly for retirement provision. Building in a reserve fund to help with the costs of failing health should be part of any long-term plan. 

The value of your investment and any income from it can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested.