Your ZIP+4 Code Hints at How Long You'll Live

If, for example, better modeling could improve U.S. pension liability forecasting by 1%, that could cut the current $3.4 trillion U.S. private pension benefits obligation total by $34 billion, according to Club Vita.

High-Res Analysis v. Low-Res Analysis

Dan Reddy, chief executive officer of Club Vita US , said in a statement about the new model using ZIP-code-based population health data can be a great, practical underwriting tool.

“Not only are ZIP codes insightful for assessing how healthy the lifestyles are of people living in different neighborhoods, but they are also readily available, so there is no need to collect sensitive individualized health information,” Reddy said in the statement.

All other factors of being equal, “neighborhoods with similar characteristics have similar longevity,” according to the Club Vita discussion of its product.

At least some competing lifespan forecasting models use population health data broken down only by people’s ordinary, 5-digit postal codes.

One problem with that lower-resolution approach is that some 5-digit ZIP code zones contain 100,000 people, and another problem is that the residents of some 5-digit ZIP codes are extremely diverse, according to Club Vita.

— Read 10 ZIP Codes Where the ACA Individual Mandate Hit hard, on ThinkAdvisor.

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