Retire Early: IRS Life Expectacy Table.

Table I. (Single Life Expectancy) from IRS Publication 590, Page 65.
Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor
35	47.3	-	46	36.8	-	57	26.8	-	69	16.8	-	80	9.5	-	91	4.7	-	102	2.3
36	46.4	-	47	35.9	-	58	25.9	-	70	16.0	-	81	8.9	-	92	4.4	-	103	2.1
-	-	-	-	-	-	59	25.0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
37	45.4	-	48	34.9	-	60	24.2	-	71	15.3	-	82	8.4	-	93	4.1	-	104	1.9
38	44.4	-	49	34.0	-	61	23.3	-	72	14.6	-	83	7.9	-	94	3.9	-	105	1.8
39	43.5	-	50	33.1	-	62	22.5	-	73	13.9	-	84	7.4	-	95	3.7	-	106	1.6
40	42.5	-	51	32.2	-	63	21.6	-	74	13.2	-	85	6.9	-	96	3.4	-	107	1.4
41	41.5	-	52	31.3	-	64	20.8	-	75	12.5	-	86	6.5	-	97	3.2	-	108	1.3
42	40.6	-	53	30.4	-	65	20.0	-	76	11.9	-	87	6.1	-	98	3.0	-	109	1.1
43	39.6	-	54	29.5	-	66	19.2	-	77	11.2	-	88	5.7	-	99	2.8	-	110	1.0
44	38.7	-	55	28.6	-	67	18.4	-	78	10.6	-	89	5.3	-	100	2.7	-	-	-
45	37.7	-	56	27.7	-	68	17.6	-	79	10.0	-	90	5.0	-	101	2.5	-	-	-

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Question 1. What does the "divisor" in the table above represent?

Answer: The divisor is the number of years a person has left. The divisor plus your age equals your life expectancy. For example, for a 40 year old, the divisor is 42.5, thus your life expectancy according to the IRS table would be 82.5 years.

Using the life expectancy method to determine the annual withdrawal for 1999 for a 40 year old. You would take his IRA balance as of Dec 31, 1998 and divide by 42.5.

Question 2. What if I'm younger than age 35? What Life Expectancy factor should I use?

Answer: Use the table below from IRS Publication 539.

Table V. (Ordinary Life Annuities) One Life - Expected Return Multiples from IRS Publication 939, Page 25.
Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor	-	Age	Divisor
15	66.8	-	18	63.9	-	21	60.9	-	24	58.0	-	27	55.1	-	30	52.2	-	33	49.3
16	65.8	-	19	62.9	-	22	59.9	-	25	57.0	-	28	54.1	-	31	51.2	-	34	48.3
17	64.8	-	20	61.9	-	23	59.0	-	26	56.0	-	29	53.1	-	32	50.2	-	35	47.3

Question 3. What if I'm younger than age 15? What Life Expectancy factor should I use?

Answer: Oh, come on. Nobody retires before age 15.

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