The average age at which U.S. retirees report retiring is 62, the highest Gallup has found since first asking Americans this question in 1991.
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While not a total surprise, given our previous discussion of the rise in employment that is so focused on the elder cohorts of society as they smash headlong into the realization that they have no retirement plan [5].
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As we pointed out here [7], the typical worker near retirement only has about 2 years of replacement income saved, or about 15 years short of the median lifespan post-retirement.
What is perhaps more worrisome is the rapid rise that Gallup notes in the last few years [8], as we have pointed out in the past that in fact, over 60% of workers accumulated more debt than they contributed to retirement savings between 2010 and 2011.
As Gallup concludes,
Retirement age may be increasing because many baby boomers are reluctant to retire. Older Americans may also be delaying retirement because of lost savings during the Great Recession or because of insufficient savings even before the economic downturn.
But optimism remains... until it's too late...
[9]
The majority of all age groups expect to retire at age 65 or older. This includes 62% of 18- to 29-year-olds, 62% of 30- to 49-year-olds, and 58% of 50- to 64-year-olds. At the same time, an optimistic 15% of the youngest age group expect to retire before age 60. Adults closer to that age are naturally less likely to think they will be ready for retirement by that point.