Survey: Americans Are Retiring Earlier Than They Expected

NEW YORK – Americans are currently retiring earlier than they expected — but four out of five still struggle with the retirement process, new research suggests.

A recent survey of 2,000 retired Americans found that they’d initially expected to retire at 63.2 years old, on average, but instead did so at 61.5 years old, beating the median point by almost two years.

One in three (32%) even claimed that they “would have retired even earlier if they’d had the chance.”

However, 81% admitted to having difficulties while retiring, most commonly in accepting changes to their health as they age (51%) and letting go of their previous employment (22%).

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of ClearMatch Medicare, the survey found that almost nine in 10 (87%) haven’t returned to the workforce now that they’ve left it.

Although 78% reportedly found fulfillment in their career, only 25% said they actively missed working, with 47% admitting they didn’t miss it at all.

Of those who did return to the workforce, 40% did so to occupy their time, while many did so for other reasons not outlined in the survey, often to help family members, friends or a former employer.

“My company begged me to do consulting for them,” one respondent recounted in an open-ended response, while another said that their former boss “called me back twice.”

Only one in four (26%) returned to work because the cost of living had increased.

Despite this, 44% of those polled admitted that the amount of money they saved up for retirement wasn’t enough — and 15% didn’t save for retirement at all.

Overall, respondents believed they’d need to save an average of $440,000 for retirement — although men cited much higher ranges than women ($468,843.7 vs. $420,853.8).

“The true cost of healthcare is often severely underestimated,” emphasized Ben Pajak, CEO of ClearMatch Medicare, a part of HealthPlanOne. “It’s a common misconception to believe that Medicare will cover all your healthcare expenses. When planning for your retirement, healthcare should be prioritized as one of your top concerns.”