Why do people think Retirement Age is 65?

[Anonymous]

It was changed to 67 when I was in high school. I remembering pondering that in 9th grade. Whether another 2 years would matter to me.

Now it's 10 years away. I worry more about layoffs/getting pushed out. Since Soc. Sec. can be taken away, I save like I have to fully self fund.

[Anonymous]

I don't think of there being a firm, universal "retirement age" anymore but more broadly "in your 60s" is generally retirement time, earlier if you've saved well, later if you hadn't (or just really like your work).

DH retired at 60 and I plan to retire at 60 too, a couple years from now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always considered 59.5 to be the target retirement date because that is when I can withdraw from IRA/401k without penalty, but I see your point, especially for people who are relying on SS and Medicare. Public policy is basically pushing for a 65-year-old retirement date, but incentivizing people to start SS withdrawals at 67 and not forcing RMDs until 75. Probably because our SS system is underfunded, and raising taxes is not a popular solution.

This. SS is not factored into my retirement calculations so we've always looked at 60 as target date. We have one kid who won't finish college until I am 61, so I may work an extra year just for that. But I'm not really thinking about SS. We have substantial savings as well as a government pension. We also have access to employer based healthcare plans even after leaving that job (union benefit) so if we really wanted to, we could retire tomorrow and still have healthcare coverage until Medicare kicked in.

I don't even think about SS. I remember my parents decided to take it early even with the diminished payment, I think my uncle who is a CPA ran the numbers and said it likely resulted in more money in the long run. Since my parents were also not living off SS, it made sense to take the earlier, lower payments and just bank/invest them. I think a lot of people with good retirement savings do that. But they aren't relying on the payments to pay their bills.

[Anonymous]

Most of the people I know who retired before last year were born before 1959, or had pensions that kicked in much earlier. So "most people" who HAVE retired didn't have to wait until 67.

I'm only 40 and I definitely don't want to work past 62, but I'm also not planning on depending on Social Security. We're saving about 30% of our income right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Life expectancy used to be 70 or less in the US for men. Retiring at 67 means you have an average of 3 years to enjoy before it’s over. Kind of a crappy deal

That was the point. Retire at 65 and dead by 70. SSI was never meant to sustain someone for 25+ years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So people will be showing up at work with a walking aid?
You will not be able to force someone out of work because of age!
The receptionist will need you to repeat yourself many times because her hearing aid is not functioning
The elementary school teacher is suffering from dementia

??? Both my parents and inlaws are in their 70s. How unhealthy do you think 70 year olds are?

I think the bigger issue is that 70 year olds do not want to be working anymore. They want to babysit grandchildren, travel and work on their hobbies.

[Anonymous]

You are expected to have money saved and can make it several years before you start drawing SS.

[Anonymous]

Most of the people I know are waiting until 67-70. I think it's just the older boomers and silent gen that think that way since they qualified for SS at 65.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people I know are waiting until 67-70. I think it's just the older boomers and silent gen that think that way since they qualified for SS at 65.

*full SS

[Anonymous]

I will be 62 this year, plan to work until 67-70, depending on if I still am at a job I like. Our plan is for me not to take SS until 67 but DH may take younger as he is younger than me and on the recommendation of our financial planner.

My friends that are retired or on the cusp either had a pension and some money saved or made a LOT of money in IT and SS will not be an issue. Some are waiting on 65 for healthcare costs.

[Anonymous]

I'm 61 & just changes jobs to a bigger role! I don't plan to retire until maybe 70.

[Anonymous]

Definitely not waiting until then. Have enough to retire now in our mid 40’s. Will probably work another decade and see where our kids land. If we didn’t need to privately fund our healthcare at that point, we would likely retire sooner. At this point, we are basically just working to pay for our kids grad school and home downpayments since we can earn that money a lot faster than they can.

[Anonymous]

65 was the standard retirement age for a long time, I suppose it's just a question of cultural mentality catching up with reality.

If I survive ageism I'll stop working around 65. Won't tap into SS until 70. But it I get pushed out via layoffs at 60, I'll probably call it quits at that point and just be a bit frugal for a few years. Life is too short to work and investments and 401k are already healthy.

[Anonymous]

I am 43. I plan to retire in my mid 50s. I wont take SS to fund my first decade of retirement.

I understand some people want and need to work through out their 60s. But I don't think my generation views any sort of age as the retirement age. We grew unexpecting SS to die. Its not part of our retirement calculations.

I do really really wish there was a mandatory retirement age from federal politics though... we would be far better off if no one over age 70 was permitted to be elected. Its sad and depressing to see all these put of touch oldies trying to stay relevant and run the country. Please go play golf and hang out with your grandkids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So people will be showing up at work with a walking aid?
You will not be able to force someone out of work because of age!
The receptionist will need you to repeat yourself many times because her hearing aid is not functioning
The elementary school teacher is suffering from dementia

??? Both my parents and inlaws are in their 70s. How unhealthy do you think 70 year olds are?

I think the bigger issue is that 70 year olds do not want to be working anymore. They want to babysit grandchildren, travel and work on their hobbies.

I don't have grandchildren yet, but my own children used up all my caretaking capacity. I would rather work than regularly babysit potential future grandchildren. That is not something I aspire to do in retirement. Maybe that will change someday, but it seems unlikely.