Railroad Retirement Board
Longevity of Railroad Retirement Beneficiaries
December 2009
Every
three years, the Railroad Retirement Board’s Chief Actuary conducts a study of
the longevity of its annuitants, as part of a valuation of future revenues and
benefit payments. The following questions and answers summarize the
results of the most recent longevity study.
1.
What were the study’s findings on the life expectancy of retired male
railroaders?
The
most recent data reflected a continued improvement in longevity. Using
data through 2006, the study indicated that, on the average, a male railroader
retiring at age 60 can be expected to live another 21.3 years, or approximately
256 months. Studies done three, six and nine years ago indicated life
expectancies of 20.7, 20.1, and 19.8 years, respectively, for
this category of beneficiary. The study also indicated that a male
railroader retiring at age 62 can be expected to live another 19.6 years (235
months), while the previous three studies indicated life expectancies of 19,
18.5, and 18.2 years, respectively. A male railroader retiring at age 65
can be expected to live another 17.1 years (approximately 205 months).
The previous studies indicated life expectancies of 16.6, 16.1, and 15.8 years,
respectively, for this category of beneficiary.
2.
How did these life expectancy figures compare to those of disabled annuitants?
As
would be expected, disabled annuitants have a shorter average life expectancy, but the difference
decreases with age. At age 60, a disabled railroader has an average life
expectancy of 16.4 years, or 4.9 years less than a nondisabled male annuitant
of the same age; at age 65, a disabled annuitant has an average life expectancy
of 3.6 years less than a nondisabled 65-year-old annuitant; and at age 70 the
difference is only 2.6 years.
3.
Are women still living longer than men?
In
general, women still live longer than men. This is shown both in the
Railroad Retirement Board’s life expectancy studies of male and female
annuitants and by other studies of the general
4.
Can individuals use life expectancy figures to predict how long they will live?
Life expectancy figures are averages for large
groups of people. Any particular individual’s lifetime may be much longer
or shorter than the life expectancy of his or her age and group. According to the study, from a group of 1,000
retired male employees at age 65, 920 will live at least 5 years, 791 at least
10 years, 607 at least 15 years, and 385 at least 20 years. Of female age
annuitants at age 65, 532 will be alive 20 years later.
5.
How do the life expectancies of railroad retirement annuitants compare with
those of the general population?
While exact data were not available for direct comparison, data available to the Railroad Retirement Board did not indicate significant differences. The entire longevity study is available on the agency’s Web site at www.rrb.gov.
Persons can find the address and phone number of the Board
office serving their area by calling the automated toll-free RRB Help Line at
1-800-808-0772, or from the Board's Web site. Most Board offices are
open to the public from
Public Affairs 312-751-4777
Posted: 11/25/09