What Is the Average Retirement Age?
The average retirement age in the US is age 62, but that number doesn’t reveal the wide range of ages at which people can and do retire.
Some people retire in their 50s, some in their 70s; other people find ways to keep pursuing their profession and thus never completely “retire” from the workforce. The age at which someone retires depends on a host of factors, including how much they’ve saved, their overall state of health, and their desire to keep working versus taking on other commitments.
Still, having some idea of the average age of retirement can be helpful as a general benchmark for your own retirement plans.
Key Points
• The average retirement age in the U.S. is 62, with variations by state.
• Retirement age is influenced by financial, health, and personal factors.
• Many people retire earlier than planned due to unforeseen circumstances, which can lead to financial challenges.
• Specific savings benchmarks are recommended at different life stages to achieve retirement goals.
• One rule of thumb is to save 10 times one’s income by age 67 for a comfortable retirement.
What Is the Average Age of Retirement in the US?
The average age of retirement from the workforce in the U.S. is 62, according to at least two recent studies.
Age 65 may be what many of us think of as the traditional age to retire, and according to 2024 research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, more than half of workers surveyed expect to retire at age 65 or older. Yet 70% of the retirees in that study reported retiring before age 65.
In addition, the age of retirement by state varies widely. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, these are the states with the highest and lowest average U.S. retirement ages:
• Hawaii, Massachusetts, and South Dakota is 66.
• Washington, D.C., is 67.
• Residents of Alaska and West Virginia it’s 61.
A lower cost of living may be what’s helping West Virginia residents retire so young. West Virginia was one of the 10 states in the country with the lowest costs of living, according to the latest Cost of Living Index.
While those previously mentioned states give a look at two ends of the average retirement age spectrum in the U.S., many states have an average retirement age that falls closer to what one might expect.
Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia all have an average retirement age of 65.
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Factors Influencing Retirement Age
There are many different factors that affect the typical retirement age. Some key factors include:
• Financial situation and retirement savings: How much retirement savings a person has, whether it’s in an investment account or an employer-sponsored plan, is an important determinant of their average retirement age. A recent survey by the AARP found that more than half of all respondents were worried about not having enough money for retirement.
Concerns like this may delay retirement age. In addition, those who are waiting to get their full Social Security benefits may decide to wait until the government’s designated full retirement age of 66 or 67, depending on their year of birth.
• Health: The state of a person’s health can also influence the age at which they retire. Those in good health may opt to work for more years, while those with medical conditions or disabilities may need to retire earlier.
• Location: Where they live may also affect how long an individual keeps working. In places where the cost of living is higher, people may work longer to pay their expenses now and in retirement. Others who are expecting to move to a more affordable place might retire earlier.
• Lifestyle goals: How a person plans to spend their retirement affects how much money they may need, which can impact when they retire. Someone who hopes to travel frequently may choose to work longer to keep earning money, for instance.
Retirement Expectations vs. Reality
Expectations can lead to disappointment. Anyone who has ever planned for a sunny beach vacation only to see it rain every day knows that.
Now imagine a person spending most of their adult life expecting to retire at 65 or earlier, and then realizing their retirement savings just isn’t enough.
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey, the expected average age of retirement is 65 or older. However, as noted previously, the actual average retirement age in the U.S. is 62, according to that same survey as well as other research. Retiring at 62, or earlier than planned, could lead to not having enough money to retire comfortably.
How to Know When to Retire
Not everyone retires early by choice. Six in 10 people retired earlier than they expected, mostly because of health problems, disabilities, or changes within their companies, according to a 2024 survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
It can be difficult for workers to exactly predict at what age they will retire due to circumstances that may be out of their control. For example, among adults who save regularly for retirement, 33% say they won’t have enough money to be financially secure in their post-employment years, and 31% don’t know if they will have enough, the AARP survey found.
In order to bridge any financial gap caused by not having enough retirement savings, 75% of pre-retirees in the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s survey expect they will earn an income during their retirement by working either full time or part time.
The survey found that half of respondents have calculated how much money they will need in retirement, and 33% estimate they will need $1.5 million. However, there is a gap between their expectations and their actions. One-third of respondents currently have less than $50,000 in retirement savings.
Common Misconceptions About Retirement Age
There are some misconceptions about the typical retirement age. These are two of the more common ones:
• There is an ideal age to retire. While research shows that many people believe age 63 is the best age to retire, it is a highly individual decision. Some people may need to work longer for financial reasons; others may have to take retirement sooner than anticipated.
• Age 65 is the traditional retirement age. The average retirement age in the U.S. is actually 62. Many people retire earlier than they think they will, often for health reasons or changes within their companies.
How Much You Should Have Saved for Retirement?
To retire comfortably, the IRS recommends that individuals have up to 80% of their current annual income saved for each year of retirement. With the average Social Security monthly payment being $1,177, retirees may need to do a decent amount of saving to cover the rest of their future expenses.
This is something to keep in mind when choosing a retirement date.
Retirement Savings Benchmarks by Age
To have enough savings for a comfortable retirement, one common rule of thumb is to save 10 times your income by the age of 67. To stay on track toward that goal, these are some retirement savings benchmarks individuals can aim for along the way.
| Age | Retirement savings |
|---|---|
| 30 | 1x income |
| 35 | 3x income |
| 40 | 3x income |
| 45 | 4x income |
| 50 | 6x income |
| 55 | 7x income |
| 60 | 8x income |
| 67 | 10x income |
Calculating Your Personalized Retirement Goal
To help determine how much money you’ll need for retirement, look at how much you currently have in retirement savings, what your Social Security benefit will be at the age you plan to retire — you can use the Social Security calculator to find this number — and any other income sources you may have, such as a pension or inheritance funds.
Then, draw up a retirement budget to get a sense of how much money you may need. Be sure to include estimated living expenses, housing, and health care costs. Plugging those numbers into a retirement calculator can help you determine how much money you might need per year.
Comparing what you’ll need annually for approximately 30 years of retirement with your savings, Social Security benefit, and other income sources will help you see how much money you still need to save in order to get there — and give you a target goal to aim for.
It’s Never Too Early to Start Saving for Retirement
Since retirement can last 30 years or more, financial security is key to enjoying your golden years.
Any day is a good day to start saving, but saving for retirement while a person is young could help put them on the path toward a more secure retirement. The more years their savings have to grow, the better.
You could even use something like automated investing if you think it could be helpful. Whatever you do, be sure to start saving as soon as possible. The longer you wait to save for retirement, the more you will need to save in a shorter period of time.
Benefits of Starting Early with Compounded Growth
Starting retirement saving early can be powerful because of a process called compounding returns.
Here’s how it works: Say you have money invested in your retirement account, or maybe you even do self-directed investing, and that money earns returns. As long as those returns are reinvested, you will earn money on your original investment and also on your returns.
Compound returns can be a way for your money to grow over time. The returns you earn each period are reinvested to potentially earn additional returns. And the longer you invest, the more time your returns may have to compound.
3 Steps to Start Preparing for Retirement
It’s not enough to have an idea of when you want to retire. To really reach that goal, it’s important to have a financial plan in place. These steps break down how to prepare for retirement.
Step 1: Estimate how much money you’ll need
One of the first steps a person could take toward their retirement saving journey is to estimate how much money they need to save. Besides the method outlined above, there is also a retirement savings formula that can help you estimate: Start with your current income, subtract your estimated Social Security benefits, and divide by 0.04. That’s the target number of retirement savings per year you’ll need.
Step 2: Set up retirement saving goals
It might be worth considering what retirement savings plans are available, whether that is an employer-sponsored 401(k), an IRA, or a savings account. Contributing regularly is key, even if big contributions can’t be made to retirement savings right now.
Making small additions to savings can add up, especially if extra money from finishing car payments, getting a holiday bonus, or earning a raise can be diverted to a retirement savings account. And periodically review the investments in your account, which may be mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to make sure they’re working for you.
If an employer offers a 401(k) match, it is typically beneficial to take advantage of that feature and contribute as much as the employer is willing to match.
Along with receiving free money from an employer, there are also tax benefits of contributing to a 401(k). Contributions to a 401(k) are pre-tax — that lowers taxable income, which means paying less in income taxes on each paycheck.
In addition, 401(k) contributions aren’t taxed when deposited, but they are taxed upon withdrawal. Withdrawing money early, before age 59 ½, also adds a 10% penalty.
Step 3: Open a Retirement Account
If access to an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan isn’t available — or even if it is — investors might want to consider opening an IRA account. For investors who need a little help sticking to a retirement savings plan, they could consider setting up an automatic monthly deposit from a checking or savings account into an IRA.
In 2024 and 2025, IRAs allow investors to put up to $7,000 a year into their account ($8,000 if they’re 50 and older). There are two options for opening an IRA — a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA, both of which have different tax advantages.
Traditional IRA
Any contributions made to a traditional IRA can be either fully or partially tax-deductible, and typically, earnings and gains of an IRA aren’t taxed until distribution.
Roth IRA
For Roth IRAs, earnings are not taxable once distributed if they are “qualified”—which means they meet certain requirements for an untaxed distribution.
Once you set up an IRA, you’ll need to choose investment vehicles for your funds. Investors who don’t have a lot of money to work with might consider something like fractional shares that allow individuals to invest in a portion of an ETF or share of stock, for instance.
Late to the Retirement Savings Game?
Starting to save for retirement late is better than not starting at all. In fact, the government allows catch-up contributions for those aged 50 and over. Catch-up contributions of up to $7,500 in 2024 and 2025 are allowed on a 401(k), 403(b), or governmental 457(b). In 2025, those ages 60 to 63 can make a catch-up contribution up to $11,250, thanks to SECURE 2.0
A catch-up contribution is a contribution to a retirement savings account that is made beyond the regular contribution maximum. Catch-up contributions can be made on either a pre-tax or after-tax basis.
As retirement gets closer, future retirees can plan their savings around their estimated Social Security payments. While this estimate is not a guarantee, it might give a retiree — or anyone planning when to retire — an idea of how much they might consider saving to supplement these earnings.
Social Security benefits can begin at age 62, which is considered the Social Security retirement age minimum. However, full benefits won’t be earned until full retirement age, which is 66 to 67 years old, depending on your birth year.
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FAQ
Does the average retirement age matter?
The age at which you retire affects your Social Security benefit. For instance, if you retire at age 62, your benefit will be about 30% lower than if you wait until age 67.
What is the full retirement age for Social Security?
The full age of retirement is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Before that, the full retirement age is 66 for those born from 1943 to 1954. And for those born between 1955 to 1959, the age increases gradually to 67.
How long will my retirement savings last?
One strategy you could use to help determine how long your retirement savings might last is the 4% rule. The idea behind the rule is that you withdraw 4% of your retirement savings during your first year of retirement, then adjust the amount each year after that for inflation. By doing this, ideally, your money could last for about 30 years in retirement.
However, your personal circumstances and market fluctuations may affect this number, which means it could vary. It’s best to use the 4% rule only as a general guideline.
Is early retirement realistic for most people?
While early retirement can sound enticing, for most people, it is not realistic because they don’t have enough retirement savings. For example, one-third of respondents to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute said they have only $50,000 saved for retirement. And according to an AARP survey, 33% of adults who save regularly for retirement say they won’t have enough money to be financially secure in their retirement years.
What’s the difference between early and full retirement age?
When it comes to receiving Social Security benefits, early retirement age is 62 and full retirement age is 66 or 67, depending on your birth year. However, retiring early at age 62 and starting these benefits can result in a benefit that’s as much as 30% lower than waiting until the full retirement age of 67.
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CalculatorThis retirement calculator is provided for educational purposes only and is based on mathematical principles that do not reflect actual performance of any particular investment, portfolio, or index. It does not guarantee results and should not be considered investment, tax, or legal advice. Investing involves risks, including the loss of principal, and results vary based on a number of factors including market conditions and individual circumstances. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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