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Retirement Planning > Spending in Retirement > Income Planning

Average American Expects to Retire Early: Survey

By Michael S. Fischer

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What You Need to Know

  • Economic uncertainty in the past year has affected how some Americans save for retirement, according to a NerdWallet survey.
  • Thirty percent of survey respondents said their intended retirement age has changed during the past year.
  • The survey also found that 11% of respondents have not started saving for retirement.

Most Americans plan to retire, and those who do plan to do so expect to leave full-time work a decade earlier on average than full retirement age, according to a new survey from NerdWallet, a personal finance company.

Others say they will never retire because they want to keep working or they do not feel they will financially be able to quit.

The Harris Poll conducted the survey in early January among 2,079 U.S. adults.

Changing Retirement Plans

Fraught economic conditions over the past 12 months have affected how some Americans save for retirement, the survey found. Twenty-seven percent of respondents reported that they have saved less because of high inflation, and 18% have saved less than they normally would have because they are worried about a potential recession.

Thirteen percent said they have contributed less to retirement investments over the past 12 months because those investments are not performing well.

Economic uncertainty also may have led investors to base retirement savings decisions on emotion. The survey found that 15% of participants have changed the types of retirement investments they hold over the past 12 months, while 7% sold retirement investments during this period and now regret their decision.

Thirty percent of those surveyed said their intended retirement age has changed during the past year, with 16% planning to retire later and 11% planning to do so sooner. Two percent said they have abandoned their plans to retire.

Among those who plan to retire later, 47% said they are unable to contribute as much as they previously did to retirement accounts. The same proportion said they think they will need more saved for retirement than they had previously thought.

Twenty percent plan to delay retirement because they had to withdraw funds from their retirement savings to cover another expense.

Timing Workplace Exits

Sixty-two percent of survey respondents intend to retire, and many of them said they will leave full-time work early, at age 57 on average. The median age of 60 for these early retirees is higher, but still seven years lower that the full retirement age to receive Social Security benefits.

Respondents’ planned retirement age is not tied to income, as might be expected, according to the survey. Among working respondents who said they will retire, the average planned retirement age is 58 for those with household incomes of $100,000 or more.

Although earlier than traditional retirement, this is still later than the planned work-leaving age of 54 for those with household incomes below $50,000 and 55 for those with household incomes between $50,000 and $74,999.

Among the 10% of respondents who said they plan never to retire, 42% do not think they will ever want to stop working. Others have a more practical reason for not retiring.

Thirty-one percent said they would not retire because they did not expect to save enough money to do so, and 18% currently have to or in the future will have to support other family members financially.

Retirement Savings Deficit

Eleven percent of survey participants have not started saving for retirement, according to the results. Twenty-seven percent of Generation Z have not done so, compared with 12% of millennials, 10% of Gen X and 3% of baby boomers. This is unsurprising, NerdWallet noted, as many Gen Zers are likely new to the workforce, not working yet or still in school.

In fact, a fifth of survey respondents are uncertain how much they should be saving. Among them, 33% of Gen Zers, 27% of millennials, 29% of Gen Xers and 10% of boomers said they did not know how much money they would need to finance a comfortable retirement.

For still others, work may remain a part of their retirement lives. Seventeen percent of respondents said they did not think they would ever be able to save enough money to completely stop working, and 22% said their retirement plan included working part time.

(Image: Adobe Stock)

Michael S. Fischer

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