The Government's Role in Retirement

A new Government Accountability Office analysis has found that retiree health insurance and pension plans are strongly associated with when workers retire. In the report, Federal Policies Offered Mixed Signals About When to Retire, GAO found that those with retiree health insurance were substantially more likely to retire before Medicare eligibility age of 65 than those without. GAO also found that men with defined benefit plans were more likely to retire early–before age 62–than those without, and that men and women with defined contribution plans were less likely to do so.