How to Find Life Expectancy and Work-Life Expectancy for a Lost-Earnings Claim (Free Tool)
You get two numbers from a life table that sit under every lost-earnings, lost-household-services and future-medical claim: how long this person was expected to live, and how many of those years they were expected to work. Both are easy to overstate, and an opposing economist will find the overstatement in minutes. This post shows where the defensible figures come from, how a survival-adjusted work-life expectancy is built from the same table, what the formal work-life tables add, and how to present the range so the demand survives the first expert report.
What the analysis contains
- Remaining life expectancy. From the National Center for Health Statistics, United States Life Tables, 2023 (National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 74, No. 6, July 2025): the ex column, by single year of age, for the total population, males and females. It is a period table, meaning 2023 death rates are held constant, which is the standard basis for litigation life expectancy.
- Expected age at death. Current age plus remaining life expectancy. An average, not a prediction for one person.
- Years to retirement. The unadjusted gap between now and the planned retirement age. The Social Security full retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later is 67, which is the usual default when no plan is documented.
- Work-life expectancy. Years to retirement adjusted for the chance of not being alive to work each of them, and, in formal tables, for the chance of leaving and re-entering the labor force.
- Earning capacity. The annual figure the work-life expectancy is multiplied by, then discounted to present value. It comes from the earnings history and the vocational evidence, not from the life table.
What to get right
1. Use the table's own column, and cite it
Remaining life expectancy is read directly from the ex column at the person's current age and sex. Cite the table by name and year in the demand so the figure can be checked.
2. Do not stop at years to retirement
A 40-year-old with a planned retirement at 67 has 27 years to retirement. Not every one of those years carries the same probability of being worked. The survival-adjusted figure counts each year in proportion to the probability of being alive at its start, S(x) = l(x) / l(a) from the same life table, and is the more defensible starting point.
3. Know what the formal tables add
Work-life expectancy tables used in litigation, such as the Markov-process tables published by Skoog, Ciecka and Krueger in the Journal of Forensic Economics, also account for the probability of leaving and re-entering the labor force, and vary by sex, education and initial labor-force status. They typically produce lower figures than survival adjustment alone. The survival-adjusted number is a sourced first pass; the forensic economist's table produces the trial figure.
4. Case-specific health
If the injury or a pre-existing condition shortens life expectancy, the general-population table overstates the horizon. A treating physician or life care planner should supply a rated figure.
5. Show the range
Run the work-life figure at retirement ages 62, 65, 67 and 70 and present the range. A single planned age invites the question of where it came from.
Read the 2023 life table in a minute
Enter age and sex, and optionally occupation, planned retirement age and education. The calculator returns remaining life expectancy and expected age at death from the CDC United States Life Tables, 2023, years to retirement, a survival-adjusted work-life expectancy with sensitivity at 62, 65, 67 and 70, a year-by-year survival table and a demand-letter paragraph. Free, runs in your browser.
Open the Life Expectancy Calculator →A worked example (hypothetical)
The facts below are invented for illustration. No real claimant or case is described, and the arithmetic is illustrative.
A 47-year-old male electrician is permanently unable to return to his trade after a fall. His earnings history supports an annual earning capacity figure, and his employer's records show no documented retirement plan. Counsel enters age 47, male, and a planned retirement age of 67.
The calculator reads remaining life expectancy for a 47-year-old male from the 2023 table and reports the expected age at death as 47 plus that figure. Years to retirement is 20. The survival-adjusted work-life expectancy counts each of those 20 years in proportion to the probability that a 47-year-old male survives to its start, so the figure comes out somewhat below 20. The sensitivity table shows the same calculation at retirement ages 62, 65, 67 and 70. The demand-letter paragraph names the table, the method, the planned retirement age and the range, and notes that the figure does not account for labor-force exits.
For plaintiff counsel, the paragraph is a sourced starting point to multiply by earning capacity and discount, with the range shown so the economist's later figure is a refinement rather than a retreat. For defense counsel, the same output identifies the two assumptions to contest: the planned retirement age, and the absence of labor-force exit probabilities that a Markov table would supply.
What to request next
- The earnings history: tax returns, W-2s, union records, and any documented overtime or benefits.
- Employer records of the claimant's stated or contractual retirement plans and pension eligibility.
- Treating and vocational opinions on work capacity, with the medical records that support them.
- Any physician opinion on life expectancy specific to this claimant.
- For defense: the plaintiff economist's work-life source, education and labor-force assumptions.
What the tool does not do
The calculator reads the life table and applies the survival adjustment shown in its formulas. It does not model labor-force exits, does not adjust for education or occupation (those are recorded in the summary so the economist knows the starting point), and does not discount to present value; the present value calculator and a forensic economist do that. Nothing you type leaves your browser except an anonymous usage count.
Next step: the medical record behind the earnings claim
Upload the chart and get a Bates-cited chronology of the injury, the functional limitations and the treating physicians' return-to-work statements that the earnings claim rests on.
Upload the chart →Frequently asked questions
Where does remaining life expectancy come from?
The ex column of the National Center for Health Statistics, United States Life Tables, 2023 (National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 74, No. 6, July 2025), by single year of age for the total population, males and females. It is the average number of additional years lived by people of that age and sex under 2023 death rates, and it is the standard litigation basis.
What is the difference between years to retirement and work-life expectancy?
Years to retirement is the plain gap between current age and planned retirement. Work-life expectancy adjusts that figure for the probability of not surviving each year, and in formal tables also for the probability of leaving and re-entering the labor force. Demand letters that stop at years to retirement get attacked for it.
Why is the calculator's work-life figure an upper-bound style estimate?
Because it counts each year to retirement in proportion to the probability of being alive at its start, using the general-population life table, and ignores exits from the labor force for disability, unemployment, caregiving or early retirement. Markov-process work-life tables, such as those published by Skoog, Ciecka and Krueger in the Journal of Forensic Economics, account for those exits and typically produce lower figures.
Why does the sensitivity table use 62, 65, 67 and 70?
They are the earliest Social Security claiming age, the historical normal retirement age, the full retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later, and the age at which delayed-retirement credits stop. Showing the range across them is more defensible than one planned age.
Related: calculating the present value of future medical expenses and the medical damages valuation guide.