How long will I live? NZ life expectancy and planning your retirement

Most people underestimate how long they will live, and so how long their money needs to last. On Stats NZ's latest cohort life tables, a woman turning 65 in 2026 can expect to live another 23.7 years on average, has about a 50% chance of reaching 90 and a 23% chance of reaching 95. A man the same age has a 37% chance of 90 and 14% of 95. For a couple, there is a 33% chance at least one of them reaches 95. KiwiSaver statements and many calculators plan only to 90; ours plan to 95 by default, and this guide explains why. Rules checked 12 November 2026.

Period and cohort life tables

Stats NZ publishes two kinds of life table, and they give quite different answers.

• Period life tables use the death rates of a recent period, 2022 to 2024 in the latest tables (published 30 July 2025). They show how long people would live if today's death rates never changed. Because death rates have kept falling, they understate how long people now 65 will actually live.
• Cohort life tables follow people born in a given year and build in projected improvements in death rates. The March 2026 update (published 27 March 2026) uses mortality projections from Stats NZ's population projections. These are what Sorted's retirement navigator uses, and what we use.

People born in 1961 turn 65 in 2026. The cohort figures are the median projection; Stats NZ also publishes a range. For a man born in 1961 the chance of reaching 90 runs from 34.1% to 40.4% between the 5th and 95th percentile projections, and for a woman from 47.0% to 52.9%.

If you are younger

Each generation is projected to live longer. Here are the cohort figures for later birth years, all measured from age 65 (median projection):

For birth years between these, our calculators interpolate. For example, for someone born in 1966 (60 now), we estimate a woman has a 52% chance of reaching 90 and 25% of reaching 95, and a man 39% and 15%. These in-between figures are our interpolation of the Stats NZ tables, as described on the methodology page.

Why planning to your life expectancy is not enough

Life expectancy is an average. Roughly half of people live longer than it. If you plan your money to run out at your life expectancy, you have about an even chance of outliving it.

From our interpolation of the cohort tables for people born in 1961:

• A man has a 50% chance of living past about 87, and a 25% chance of living past about 92.
• A woman has a 50% chance of living past about 90, and a 25% chance of living past about 94.

So a woman turning 65 now who plans to 90, the age used on KiwiSaver statements, has about a 1 in 2 chance of still being alive when her plan ends. The Retirement Commission describes this longevity risk simply as "the risk of running out of money".

Couples live longer, together

For a couple, what matters is how long the last of you lives, because the survivor still needs an income. Assuming each partner's chances are independent (our simplification), a man and a woman both born in 1961:

For a couple born in 1971 the chance that one reaches 95 rises to 38.4%. Our couples and survivors calculator shows what happens to income when one partner dies, and our when a partner dies guide covers the change in NZ Super.

Why our calculators plan to 95

Schedule 7A of the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014 uses 90 as the age weekly payments stop on KiwiSaver statements. Sorted's retirement calculator and the Massey University spending guidelines also use 90. We default to 95 because:

• for a woman turning 65 now, 90 is roughly a coin toss;
• for a couple, there is about a 1 in 3 chance one of them is still alive at 95;
• running out of savings late in life, when you cannot go back to work, is the outcome most people most want to avoid.

Planning further costs something. Here is what $300,000 at 65 pays a week from savings alone, the same amount every year in today's dollars, for different planning ages:

Moving from 90 to 95 lowers the weekly draw by about $38 at steady returns. NZ Super continues for life whatever age you plan to, so the cost is smaller as a share of total income: for a single person living alone, $555.15 of NZ Super plus $206 is $761, against $799 when planning to 90.

You can change the planning age in every calculator. If you have reason to expect a shorter life, a lower age is reasonable; if your family tends to live long, consider 100.

How our calculators use the tables

Life tables appear in our tools in three ways.

• Planning age. Every calculator finds the pay that lasts to your planning age, 95 unless you change it. Beyond that age you would have NZ Super only.
• Survival odds. Where we show your chance of reaching an age, we use the cohort table for your birth year and sex, with the interpolation described on our methodology page.
• Couples. The couples calculator lets you set when one partner dies and shows the survivor's income. NZ Super switches from the couple rate to the single rate, and we assume the survivor spends 70% of what the couple spent. That 70% is our assumption, based on the square-root equivalence scale the OECD uses, and you can change it.

We do not use life tables to shorten your plan. A plan that ends at your life expectancy fails about half the time, which is not a standard we would accept for something as important as retirement income.

Using this in your own plan

1. Start from the cohort table for your birth year and sex, not the period table or a headline life expectancy.
2. Plan past your life expectancy. An age you have about a 1 in 4 chance of reaching is a sensible target; for most people that is in the 90s.
3. Plan for the survivor. A couple's money needs to last as long as the longer-lived partner.
4. Use a strategy that adapts. If you spend down to a set age, know what happens after it. Our drawdown strategies guide compares the options.
5. Let NZ Super carry the tail. NZ Super pays for life, so it is your protection if you outlive your savings. Check yours with the NZ Super calculator.

These are population figures. Your own health, family history and lifestyle matter, and nobody can predict an individual lifespan. This is general information, not financial advice.

Questions

What is life expectancy at 65 in New Zealand?

On Stats NZ's cohort tables (March 2026 update), 21.1 more years for a man and 23.7 for a woman born in 1961, who turn 65 in 2026. The period tables for 2022 to 2024 give 19.4 and 21.5, but they assume death rates stop improving.

What are my chances of living to 90?

For people turning 65 in 2026, about 37% for men and 50% for women, on Stats NZ's cohort tables. Younger generations have higher chances: for those born in 1991, 51% and 63%.

Why does my KiwiSaver statement stop at 90?

Because the government's projection rules in Schedule 7A use 90 as the end age. That is a convention, not a forecast. About half of women turning 65 now will live past it.

Should I plan to 95 or 100?

We default to 95, an age a 65-year-old woman today has about a 1 in 4 chance of reaching. If your family tends to live long, or you want more certainty, 100 costs about $27 a week less on $300,000 at steady returns.