Step 2: Retirement Age and Life Span

The settings on the Options page affect the worklife and life expectancy calculations.

These inputs determine the dates and ages used to derive the expectancies from the data.

Reference Date and Ages Inputs

ReferenceDateAndAgesInputs

Select Reference Date

Sets the starting date for the calculations. The expectancies are derived from the data using the individual's age (see Reference Age below) as of the Reference Date. The expectancies are then added to the Reference Date to arrive at the projected retirement date and date of death.

Select Reference Age

Determines the age used when deriving expectancies from the data tables. The Previous Birthday setting uses the individual's age on the birthday immediately preceding the Reference Date. The Next Birthday setting uses the individual's age on the birthday immediately following the Reference Date. The Actual Age setting uses the individual's age on the Reference Date itself. Since the expectancy data is only available for whole years, the Actual Age setting interpolates from the data available for the birthdays immediately preceding and following the Reference Date.

Tip:

Since a person's expected worklife and life span both increase as he grows older, moving the General Options settings further out in time results in later expected dates of retirement and death. This means that setting the Reference Date to the Trial Date instead of the Death/Damages Date will yield later calculated dates. The difference between the results increases with the time elapsed between the Death/Damages Date and Trial Date. For the Reference Age selecting Previous Birthday slightly decreases the calculated dates and selecting Next Birthday slightly increases them.

To reapply the default settings for both the decedent and the spouse, click on the Reset button.

Other Options Inputs

OtherOptions