This calculator shows you how long you have left to live, based on federal statistics

Using 2011 Social Security data on mortality, this Washington Post app shows you how much time you have left based on the average life expectancy of someone your age and gender.

Big caveat: The creators of this calculator said they oversimplified it on purpose. There are tons of variables to consider when trying to even estimate when someone will die — and even then it’s impossible.

As the Post points out, your life expectancy changes based on how old you are. You face different risks at different ages. So a baby boy may live an average of 76 years, based on this data, but a 76-year-old man lives an additional decade — essentially because he’s already lived past a lot of risks younger people face.

In Maine, the average life expectancy is is 77.5 years, according to this Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention report. The report did not say whether that was for a newborn. Nationally, life expectancy at birth is 78.8.

Once you’ve tried the Post’s calculator, compare the results with this one, created by University of Pennsylvania researchers. (Here’s how they calculated it.) It includes factors like whether you smoke and are married, as well as how long you drive and whether you wear a seatbelt while doing so.

I added one and a half years to my life expectancy by plugging in those details.

The researchers also built an even more in-depth calculator, which you can try here.

Featured homepage image by William Murphy on Flickr. 

Dan MacLeod

About Dan MacLeod

Dan MacLeod is the managing editor of the Bangor Daily News. He's an Orland native who moved to Portland in 2002 and now lives in Unity. He's been a journalist since 2008, and previously worked for the New York Post and the Brooklyn Paper.