Actuarial Notes

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U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Bureau of the Actuary 

No. 1 - 09 

November 2009 

Longevity of Railroad Retirement Beneficiaries 

Calculations of the life expectancies of railroad retirement beneficiaries have recently been made

from studies of data compiled for the Twenty-Fourth Actuarial Valuation of the railroad retirement 

system, which was made as of December 31, 2007. These studies have been conducted for male 

and female age annuitants, disability annuitants, spouses and widows. Comparisons with studies 

done for the twenty-second and the twenty-third valuations show a general improvement in life 

expectancies for age and disability annuitants. Other major results of the studies are contained in the 

following discussion and the two attached tables. 

Life expectancies may help provide an indication of the amount that will be paid out in benefits in 

individual situations, since a benefit is generally payable until the individual beneficiary dies. In the

case of spouses and widows, another event, such as death of the employee or remarriage of the 

widow, may terminate all or a portion of the benefit. 

Table 1 illustrates the differences in longevity among the categories of railroad retirement

beneficiaries and also shows life expectancy figures for the total U.S. population. The figures for 

railroad retirement beneficiaries show age and disability retirements separately, while those for the 

U.S. population do not segregate disabled lives. 

As indicated in table 1, a male railroad worker retiring at age 65 may expect, on the average, to

receive his annuity for 17.1 years or approximately 205 months; while one retiring at age 62 may 

expect to receive his annuity for 19.6 years or approximately 235 months. At age 65, female 

railroad retirement age annuitants have a life expectancy of 20.0 years, which is 2.9 years longer 

than males at the same age. Females at age 65 in the U.S. population as a whole live 2.9 years 

longer on the average than males. While a female age annuitant or spouse at age 65 may expect to 

live about 20.0 and 20.5 years, respectively, a widow at the same age is expected to live 18.3 

years. One reason for the difference in longevity may be that a widow's life expectancy is affected 

by a change in financial and social position and the intangible effect of bereavement brought on by 

the employee's death. 
-2-

Life expectancies for disability beneficiaries are shown below. Both those disabled from 

performing their regular occupation and those totally disabled from performing any occupation are

included. Total disabilities are those which meet the more restrictive disability standards of social 

security. 

Life expectanciesa at selected ages for railroad disability annuitants at retirement 

and 5 or more years after retirement 

5 or more years

 Ageb At retirement after retirement

 45 c 26.9 27.0 

50 22.7 23.5 

55 19.4 20.0 

60 16.2 16.5 

65 13.5 

70 10.8 

75 8.3 

80 6.3 

a Based on experience between 2003 and 2006 anniversaries of retirement.

b Age nearest birthday.

c Data not statistically significant.

This table indicates that the life expectancy of a person newly disabled is somewhat lower than

that of a person disabled a number of years earlier. At age 55, for example, a recently disabled 

person may expect to live 19.4 years on average, while one disabled 5 or more years ago has a 

life expectancy of 20.0 years. 

The data used to calculate life expectancy figures also provide a basis for estimating what 

proportion of the retired population may be expected to remain alive at the end of a particular

number of years in the future. The chances of survival for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years for retired 

individuals are given in table 2. According to these figures, from a group of 1,000 retired male 

employees at age 65, 920 will survive 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. 

Life expectancy figures are averages for large groups. The future lifetime of a particular individual

may be longer or shorter than the life expectancy for his age group. Under the railroad retirement 

system, there have been many who have received benefits for 25 years or more. 
Table 1 

Life expectancies at ages 60-85 for railroad 

retirement beneficiaries and for the general population 

Railroad Retirementa 

Age annuitants Disability U.S. Populationb 

Agec Males Females Annuitants Spousesd Widows Males Females 

60 21.3 24.5 16.4 24.6 22.3 20.8 24.0 

61 20.4 23.6 15.8 23.8 21.4 20.0 23.2 

62 19.6 22.6 15.2 22.9 20.6 19.3 22.4 

63 18.7 21.7 14.6 22.1 19.8 18.5 21.6 

64 17.9 20.9 14.0 21.3 19.0 17.8 20.8 

65 17.1 20.0 13.5 20.5 18.3 17.1 20.0 

66 16.3 19.1 12.9 19.7 17.6 16.4 19.2 

67 15.6 18.4 12.3 18.9 16.9 15.7 18.4 

68 14.8 17.6 11.9 18.2 16.1 15.0 17.7 

69 14.1 16.8 11.3 17.4 15.4 14.4 16.9 

70 13.4 16.0 10.8 16.6 14.7 13.7 16.2 

71 12.7 15.1 10.3 15.8 14.1 13.1 15.5 

72 12.0 14.4 9.8 15.1 13.5 12.5 14.8 

73 11.4 13.7 9.2 14.4 12.9 11.9 14.1 

74 10.8 13.0 8.7 13.7 12.2 11.3 13.5 

75 10.1 12.3 8.3 13.0 11.6 10.7 12.8 

76 9.6 11.6 7.9 12.4 11.0 10.2 12.2 

77 9.0 10.9 7.4 11.7 10.4 9.6 11.5 

78 8.4 10.3 7.1 11.0 9.9 9.1 10.9 

79 7.9 9.6 6.7 10.4 9.3 8.6 10.3 

80 7.4 9.1 6.3 9.8 8.8 8.2 9.8 

81 6.9 8.5 5.9 9.2 8.2 7.7 9.2 

82 6.5 8.0 5.6 8.6 7.7 7.3 8.7 

83 6.0 7.4 5.2 8.0 7.3 6.9 8.2 

84 5.6 6.9 4.9 7.5 6.8 6.5 7.7 

85 5.2 6.4 4.6 7.0 6.3 6.1 7.2 

a Based on experience between anniversaries of retirement in 2003 and 2006 for all annuitants. 

b U.S. Life Tables for 2004 from Tables 2 and 3, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 56, No. 9, 

Dec. 28, 2007, United States Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human

 Services. 

For railroad retirement data, age basis is age nearest birthday at beginning of policy year; for U.S.

 population data, age basis is exact age.

 d About 96 percent of spouses are female. 

c 
Table 2

Chances of survival for specified periods, 

by age and category of railroad retirement beneficiary

Number alive per 1,000 after Number alive per 1,000 after 

Agea 5 years 10 years 15 years 20 years 5 years 10 years 15 years 20 years 

Male age annuitants Female age annuitants 

60 957 880 757 581 979 927 840 709 

65 920 791 607 385 947 859 725 532 

70 860 660 419 190 906 765 561 322 

75 768 487 221 60 844 619 355 128 

Spouses Widows 

60 962 906 821 703 952 870 753 610 

65 942 854 731 558 914 791 641 454 

70 906 776 592 360 865 701 496 277 

75 857 654 397 169 811 573 320 116 

All disability annuitants 

60 873 718 551 364 

65 823 632 418 225 

70 768 507 273 102 

75 661 356 133 29 

Disabled annuitants 

Disability annuitants at retirement disabled 5 or more years 

45 940 876 807 708 942 878 809 709 

50 899 828 726 598 932 859 753 620 

55 889 780 642 493 921 808 665 510 

60 855 704 541 357 877 722 554 366 

65 b b b b 823 632 418 225 

70 b b b b 768 507 273 102 

75 b b b b 661 356 133 29 

a

 Age nearest birthday approximates exact age.

b

 Not applicable. Disability annuities not awarded on or after 65th birthday.