Why working longer is a bad retirement plan

cnbc.com:

Working longer is among the best ways to ensure you don't outlive your retirement savings. The problem is, you can't count on it as a strategy.

When it comes to retirement age, there's a big gap in expectations versus reality. Americans generally retire earlier than planned — often due to factors beyond their control, such as poor health or job loss, research shows.

In 2022, the average expected retirement age was 66, according to a Gallup poll. But the actual retirement age was 62, on average. While the averages have varied somewhat over the years, there has been a consistent gap of about five years between expected and actual retirement ages since 2002, Gallup said.

Almost half, 46%, of retirees said they left the workforce earlier than planned, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2023 Retirement Confidence Survey. That share has been similar for the past two decades, largely hovering between 40% and 50%.

«I think a lot of people who aren't on track [for retirement] — maybe they're in their late 40s or early 50s — say, 'I want to retire at 65 but I'll work to 70,'» said David Blanchett, a certified financial planner and head of retirement research at PGIM, the asset management arm of Prudential Financial.

«But they probably won't make it to 70,» he added.

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Delaying retirement by just a few years can have a «dramatic» positive financial effect, Blanchett said.

Such people continue to get a regular paycheck, so don't have to live off their savings. Meanwhile, they have extra time to save and for their