Recently the Society of Actuaries (SOA) has had to update the mortality tables that it released in the fall of 2014. The current tables show a very slight decrease in the longevity estimates than what was published in the 2014 figures. According to the tables an average 65 year-old male is expected to live to be 86.6, and an average 65 year-old female is expected to live to be 88.2. There have been complaints from a growing chorus of actuaries about the process used to come up with the estimates. There were allegations that the SOA used incomplete data sets that resulted in an overstatement of improved mortality rates. The recently adjusted tables are still being analyzed because regulators and stakeholders in the private sector need accurate data about longevity.
See Nick Thornton, Behind the scenes of the new longevity estimates, benefitspro, October 21, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
