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December 13, 2006 at 10:09 AM
Many U.S. residents say they were forced into retirement long before they were ready.
A survey commissioned by the Wellesley Hills, Mass.-based U.S. arm of Sun Life Financial Inc., Toronto, found that 22% of retirees were forced into retirement an average of 7.7 years before they had expected. About 55% of the involuntary retirees said they were ineligible for Social Security benefits when they were forced to leave the workforce.
In addition, 69% had to modify their retirement plans.
About 77% of the survey participants forced to retire before age 55 said their retirement plans were affected “a great deal” (57%) or “somewhat” (20%).
Participants with assets of less than $250,000 also said forced retirement affected their plans “a great deal” (42%) or “somewhat” (34%).
Among those saying they had to make lifestyle and financial adjustments because of early retirement, 61% reduced overall expenses, 47% cut down on vacations and social activities, 43% collected Social Security before they wanted to, and 30% used money in an individual retirement account, researchers report.
