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Working longer is among the best ways<\/a> to make up for a retirement funding shortfall<\/a>, financial experts say.<\/p>\n But there’s a big problem with that strategy: There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to work longer. <\/p>\n Almost half \u2014 46% \u2014 of people who retired in 2025 did so earlier than anticipated, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a think tank, which released its annual Retirement Confidence Survey<\/a> on April 21. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The bulk do so for unforeseen reasons, including health conditions, layoffs, or caregiving for a loved one, experts said. <\/p>\n Those curveballs can hobble people’s retirement plans.<\/p>\n “People retiring earlier than planned can end up with a much worse retirement than expected and may need to rely on others, make significant lifestyle changes, and if they have a spouse, can change the spouse’s retirement plans,” Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at EBRI, a think tank, wrote in an email.<\/p>\n EBRI polled 2,544 Americans age 25 and older in January. That base is comprised of 1,007 workers, 1,045 retirees and an oversample of 492 caregivers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Delaying retirement can have a range of positive financial impacts: such people don’t have to live off their savings, since they get a regular paycheck. They have more time to save and for their assets to grow, hopefully. They can likely delay claiming Social Security benefits, guaranteeing a higher monthly payout for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n But retiring early can have the opposite effect, especially when it’s unexpected.<\/p>\n And people “consistently” retire earlier than planned, Copeland said. <\/p>\n Roughly 40% to 50% of people who retired in any given year since the late 1990s said they retired earlier than anticipated, according to EBRI data. <\/p>\n A Gallup poll similarly found a regular gap<\/a> between retirement expectations and reality. In 2022, the average person said they expected to retire at age 66; that year, the average person retired at age 61, the most recent poll found.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Factors beyond an individual’s control were responsible for 76% of early retirements in 2025, according to EBRI. They included health problems and disabilities, and company changes such as downsizing, closure or reorganization.<\/p>\n More than half, 56%, of full-time workers in their early 50s get pushed out of their jobs due to circumstances like a layoff before they’re ready to retire, according to a 2018\u00a0paper<\/a>\u00a0published by the Urban Institute, a think tank. The researchers analyzed data spanning 1998 to 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhy delaying retirement works well \u2014 for those who can<\/h2>\n
Why people retire earlier than planned<\/h2>\n