Average Age
of Retirement , Continues
to Climb , in the U.S. .
'Newsweek' reports that more
people in the United States are
planning to retire later in life.
According to Gallup's annual Economy
and Personal Finance survey in April,
the average age of retirement is now 61. .
In 1991, the average retirement age was 57.
Current workers now estimate they will retire at 66.
According to Gallup's recent analysis,
one of the main reasons is changes being made to the Social Security program in the 1980s.
Those reforms raised the age at which Americans were eligible for full retirement benefits to 65.
Due to those changes, anyone born after 1960
isn't eligible for full benefits until the age of 67.
Another potential driving factor could be longer
life expectancy increasing the need to work
longer and shore up retirement funds.
The increasing availability of gig work on
the Internet has also given older Americans
an alternative to grueling manual jobs.
According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, nearly
20% of gig workers in the U.S. are over the age of 50.
About one-third of those workers are over the age of 65.
According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, nearly
20% of gig workers in the U.S. are over the age of 50.
About one-third of those workers are over the age of 65.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts
that the number of people in the labor force
over 75 will grow by about 96.5% by 2030