During the past ten years, pensioner mortality rates have improved by 30%, but actuaries say bad diets, smoking and drugs make them reluctant to make life expectancy forecasts.
The Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI), which is a research arm of the Actuarial Profession, has published its latest mortality tables for both male and female pensioners in their late 60's.
This report is only published once a decade, and its last results in 1994 showed that 181 of every 10,000 males could be expected to die within one year. The CMI believe that although the figures point to a three year increase in life expectancy to 86 since the last tables were published, lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking mean that these predictions are given with hesitation.
Our view
Better health care makes us live longer and a more affluent society means we are abusing our bodies more.