(Natural News) Until recently, the average American life expectancy has gone up. However, it now appears that the toxic lifestyle embraced by much of the country is finally catching up with people, and those life expectancy gains have come to screeching halt. This might be bad news for individuals and their loved ones, but corporations are noting sizeable savings in the form of pension costs. After all, if employees die younger, a firm won’t have to pay them a pension or other lifelong retirement benefits for as many years.

After the American death rate increased for the first time since 1999 two years ago, at least a dozen major corporations have been able to reduce estimates for the amount of money they might owe retirees by more than $9.7 billion combined. Lockheed Martin alone was able to adjust its estimates regarding retirement obligations downward by $1.6 billion in 2015 and 2016, and firms like Verizon and General Motors are also reaping the benefits. This is based on an analysis carried out by Bloomberg of company filings. The American death rate is an age-adjusted share of Americans dying.

Read more: Corporations saving BILLIONS as Americans are dying younger from toxic effects of medications, pesticides and herbicides