SEPTEMBER 2023 - 1
Phasing Out & Zooming In: The Four Phases of Retirement
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3
Retirement is a normal, natural part of most Americans’ lives. According to a 2022 Gallup survey, the average age of retirement in the United States is 61 years old. This is an increase from years past. In 1991, for example, the average age of retirement was 57. In 2002, the age increased to 59. Now, for Americans who were still working as of 2022, the age they can expect to retire (on average) is 66. Many factors contribute to the increased age for retirement including the COVID pandemic and financial losses experienced during the Great Recession. Also, the full retirement age for Social Security Benefits has increased, delaying retirement. The full retirement age for Social Security was 65; in 1983, an overhaul of Social Security gradually raised the age to 67, which was fully realized in 2022 for Americans born in 1960 or later. The age at which Americans retire isn’t the only aspect of retirement to have changed over the years. Retirement itself, what it looks like, has changed, too. With increased lifespan, and with an increase in the number of healthy, active years retirees are living, many Americans are spending more than two decades in retirement. Retirees are engaged in active social lives, traveling the world, volunteering and taking on second jobs or careers. They’re more involved in their own investing (with the loss of pensions) and have greater access and control over how they spend the time they have in retirement. Americans are living overseas, on cruise ships, with their children and grandchildren and every where in between.
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ASK THE EXPERT: REMEMBER? FEATURE: PHASING IN & ZOOMING OUT: THE FOUR PHASES OF RETIREMENT INFOGRAPHIC/RECIPE: GUACAMOLE EYE HEALTH: DID YOU TAKE YOUR EYEDROPS TODAY?