Determining the “perfect” retirement age to leave the workforce has never been an easy decision throughout the ages.
The dilemmas include what happens if you retire too early and don’t enough savings to enjoy life vs. retiring too late and missing an opportunity to kick back and live a carefree life at all.
My husband and I continuously debate the age-old question of the “right” retirement age, and well, the answer at least right now, is that he is still working.
While we are both in our early 60s, he dreams of a leisurely day filled with sleeping, golf, and frequent outdoor barbeques. On the other hand, I nervously conjure up images of him becoming the proverbial “couch potato” and our lively conversations being relegated to the “weather” and “news of the day.”
Of course, the reality is somewhere in between, and I’ll be the first to say we don’t have that ultimate answer ourselves.
Generation Z Speaks Out
But what I found especially interesting is that an exclusive poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek in mid-May, showed that Generation Z thinks they know when the ideal retirement age is.
Their answers shocked me, and horrified my husband. After all, what does Gen Z (respondents aged 18 to 24) know about a lifetime of working?
The poll asked 1,500 adults fitting the young demographic as to whether the current retirement age of 67 was too high, too low, or about right. (Disclaimer right here: the number of adults asked is a VERY small sampling.)
A whopping 17 percent said they thought this age to retire was too low, as compared with 15 percent of millennials (ages 25 to 34), 9 percent of 35-54-year-olds, and 5 percent of 55-to-64 year olds believing that the retirement age of 67 was too low.
Ouch.
Of course, it is easy to note that the older a person gets—and I’m assuming that with that comes utter exhaustion and first-hand knowledge of balancing the many aspects of life in general—the less likely he/she is to support that opinion.
Beliefs about the ideal retirement age have been shifting, as workers in the U.S. are retiring later than over 30 years ago. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, Americans retired in 1991 on average at age 57.
In 2022, that retirement age had increased to 61. This compares with the target retirement age of individuals currently still in the workforce increasing from age 60 in 1995 to age 66 in 2022.
Financial Insecurity Drives Retirement Decisions
And with the uncertainty of today’s economic times, including forecasts warning of Social Security deficits, many individuals are holding on to their jobs and facing the reality they may have to work longer.
This raises the valid question as to whether Generation Zs are acknowledging that working for more years is a financial necessity rather than for other reasons, and truth is, they may not be wrong.
All this comes at the same time as studies showing that many aging Americans feeling their retirement savings are lacking in terms of where they need to be. And that is why there seems to be a growing alarm among many older workers about the optimal retirement age and whether they are truly ready.
In the spirit of positivity, statistics are just that … numbers. Overall “averages” and information about “typical Americans” doesn’t mean you.
But these forecasts are why my husband I keep trekking to our personal broker to review our savings and projections to answer our nagging questions of whether we will have enough money to live the life post-retirement we want to have and without having to “sacrifice” in the end to remain in a sound financial position.
Where are those crystal balls when you need them?
What are your thoughts on the “ideal” age to retire, and why? We’d love to know your thoughts! Connect with us at contact@seniordenial.com.
