Tip: Try a valid symbol or a specific company name for relevant results 'Stay working, girlfriend': Suze Orman says the final few years on the job are worth far more than most people realize For many Americans, retirement age is an arbitrary number. Maybe you're aiming to retire early, in your 50s. Maybe you're planning to retire at 65, because that's often considered the traditional retirement age.
But there's another number worth focusing on, and that could be a better determinant of when to retire. For example, Kiki, 43, told Suze Orman's _Women & Money Podcast_ that she wants to retire at age 58 — even though she's a "recovering workaholic" and doesn't know what she'll do in retirement. "For some reason, I've always had 58 in my mind," she told Orman.
But she has "no clue" why. She's debt-free and has already saved more than $400,000. But, in terms of retirement readiness, Orman still gives Kiki a failing grade of "F." Yet, if Kiki waits another decade to retire, this will give her "more than you need" in retirement.
"Your way to an A is just stay working, girlfriend," Orman told Kiki. There's no "correct" retirement age for everybody — here's what to consider. Your full retirement age (FRA), as defined by the government, is between ages 66 and 67, depending on the year you were born.
But the average retirement age is 64.6 for men and 62.6 for women, according to data from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. More than half of Americans (53%) have a specific age at which they plan to retire, according to an Allianz retirement survey. And seven in 10 aspire to "emulate the financial strategies of those who achieve early retirement." Maybe they want to enjoy their retirement while they're still mobile and healthy.
But sometimes early retirement isn't a choice: a layoff, unexpected health issues or even caregiving responsibilities could derail your plans. Or maybe, like Kiki, you have a retirement age in mind, but don't really know why. But no matter what age you have in mind, the more important question is whether you have enough income to sustain your current lifestyle in retirement.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
