At what age do you plan to retire? That’s a big question. And there is no right answer for everyone. In fact, data on average retirement age suggest that there is no real average.
What is the average retirement age?
It is difficult to determine the average retirement age. Different data points and definitions of retirement mean different ages.
Depending on how you measure it, the average retirement age is about 57 to 67 years old, with notable outliers.
Average age to start social security
According to data from the Social Security Administration, the most common age to begin collecting Social Security benefits based on claims in 2022 is 66 for both men and women. Until recently, most people started receiving benefits at her age of 62.
See below for a breakdown of when people start receiving benefits, sorted by popularity.
Most Popular – Age 66: Age 66 is full retirement age for most people and is the age at which benefits are not reduced. It was also the most popular age to start Social Security, with 28.4% of men and 26.5% of women starting it.
62 years old: Age 62 is currently the second most popular age to start benefits, with 22.99% of men and 24.5% of women starting benefits at this age. (In 2014, the numbers were even higher, 34.5% for men and 39.7% for women, starting at age 62.)
65 years old, 67 years old, 68 years old, 69 years old: Approximately 13-15% of people started at each of the following ages:
- 13.3% of men and 13.4% of women started working at age 65
- 15% of men and 13.4% of women start at age 67
- 13.4% of men and 13.1% of women started at age 68
- 13.8% of men and 12.2% of women start at age 69
63 years old, 64 years old, 70 years old or older: These are the least popular starting ages, with only about 6-9% starting at these ages.
- 6.4% of men and 6.6% of women start working at age 63
- 6.7% of men and 7.3% of women start working at age 64
- 8.4% of men and 9.3% of women started at age 70 or older
Self-reported retirement age
Self-reported retirement ages appear to be getting older. Below are the results of two authoritative reports.
According to the latest Gallup poll, the average reported retirement age is 61 years old, an increase from 59 years old in the early 2000s. The target retirement age for non-retirees has increased from 60 years old in 1995 to 66 years old now.
And the latest the study A study by the Transamerica Retirement Research Center found:
- 42% of those not yet retired expect to retire at age 70 or older, or have no plans to retire.
- Only 9% of people expect to retire between the ages of 66 and 69
- 22% expect to retire at age 65
- 29% expect to retire by age 65
Retirement age based on analysis of labor force participation rate
Analyzing who is working or looking for work can be a more objective measure of retirement age.
Researchers at Boston University’s Center for Retirement Research (CRR) define the “average retirement age” as the age at which labor force participation rates fall below half. From this measure, CRR estimates that the average age is approximately 64 years for men and 62 years for women. However, this does not exclude people who are normally unable to work in the labor force, such as housewives and the disabled, and the number of such people is skewed toward the young.
According to EPI, perhaps the most accurate way to measure retirement is to “look at the age at which half of the non-disabled workforce exits the workforce.”
According to this standard, the average retirement age is 65.5 years.
Retirement age in your state
U.S. Census Bureau data is used to calculate the average retirement age by state.
Minimum Retirement Age: The states with the youngest retirement age are:
- Two states with the highest average age 61: alaska and west virginia
- 7 states with the highest average retirement age 62: New Mexico, Michigan, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama
- 12 states with the highest average retirement age 63: Oregon, Maine, Delaware, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, Mississippi
Intermediate ranges include:
- The average for the 11 states is 64: California, New York, Washington, Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Montana, Wyoming, Tennessee
- The most common ages are in the following 15 states: 65: Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Colorado, New Hampshire, Virginia, Utah, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Kansas
There are three states where retirement ages are shockingly late.
- Hawaii, Massachusetts, South Dakota
Availability of jobs, population health, income levels, cost of living, and other factors can contribute to differences between states.
Retirement age around the world
Retirement ages around the world are strikingly similar to those in the United States, ranging from 50 to 68 years.
China is a real outlier, with the retirement age for women being 50, compared to the overall average of 54.
Other countries with relatively low retirement ages include Russia, where women retire at 56.5, Indonesia, where women retire at 58, and the Philippines, where women retire at 60.
Countries with high retirement ages include Finland, where people retire at age 68, Iceland, Israel, and Denmark (67).
Interestingly, most countries around the world have passed government plans to raise retirement ages as people live longer.
What is early retirement?
There is no official measure of “early retirement.” However, when we hear the term “early retirement,” it generally refers to quitting work before the age of 65, and the image that comes to mind is a 55-year-old relaxing on the golf course.
Before the pandemic, early retirement was waning in popularity. The number of people continuing to work past the ages of 55, 65, and even 75 has increased.
The trend has reversed. As of the third quarter of 2021, 50.3% of U.S. adults age 55 and older said they left the labor force due to retirement, according to the Pew Research Center. analysis Latest official workforce data.
This is a modest but significant increase in the number of retirees.
What is super early retirement?
Believe it or not, 20- and 30-year-olds are the most popular groups for early retirement. More and more young people are embracing a philosophy called “FIRE” (Financial Independence, Retire Early).
These people radically strip away the things they need to spend money on and focus every aspect of their lives on achieving financial independence.
When can I retire?
There are many ways to answer this question. Do you have enough savings? How much should I spend? What sources of income will I have in retirement? How will these factors change over time?
But what you should have is a comprehensive retirement plan. You want to organize your current financial information and plan how you will finance the rest of your life, along with backup plans for different scenarios.
NewRetirement Planner helps you determine the best retirement age for you, considering all factors. Thousands of scenarios underlie our probability calculations, earning our tool the title of Best Retirement Calculator from the American Association of Individual Investors (Ahhh) and You can still retire.
Best of all, this easy-to-use system puts you in the driver’s seat. You control your inputs and assumptions.