You’re Likely to Live Longer If You Retire After 65 (2024)

FAQs

How long can retirees expect to live once they hit 65? ›

According to their table, for instance, the average remaining lifespan for a 65-year-old woman is 19.66 years, reaching 84.66 years old in total. The remaining lifespan for a 65-year-old man is 16.94 years, reaching 81.94 years in total.

Results by retirement-age category are perhaps the most striking. Those retiring at age 65 or greater have an 11-percentage-point greater probability of surviving to age 80 than those retiring at exactly age 62.

Waiting until your normal retirement age means that your Social Security benefits aren't reduced. You can stay covered by your employer's health insurance as long as you're working, then apply for Medicare at age 65.

Some new retirees even experience mental health issues such as clinical depression or anxiety. The truth is that no matter how much you've been looking forward to it, retiring from work is a major life change that can bring stress and depression as well as benefits.

Working an extra year decreases mortality rates by 11%, a new analysis shows.

Americans are waiting longer to retire than they were two decades ago. For example, between 2002-2007, 41% of U.S. adults 60-64 and 76% of U.S. adults 65-69 were retired. However, between 2016-2022, 32% of U.S. adults 60-64 and 70% of U.S. adults 65-69 were retired, according to a 2022 Gallup survey.

Most of us seem to know that the average American lives between 70 and 80 years: 73.5 years for men, and 79.3 for women, to be exact. Fewer of us understand that life expectancy rises with age. An American man who turns 70 today will live to 85, on average.

Key Takeaways

Depending on the year you were born, postponing taking Social Security until age 66 or 67 will allow you to receive full benefits. Based on 2021 data, men retire at an average age of 64.7 years, while women remain at work until age 62.1. Retirees at the age of 65 qualify for Medicare benefits.

The 1983 overhaul of Social Security gradually raised the age to 67, which it reached in 2022 for those born in 1960 or later — effectively cutting benefits by 13 percent as compared to benefits if the retirement age had remained at 65.

The average age for men to retire is 65 while the average age for women to retire is 63.

What is a good amount of money to retire with at 65? ›

Since higher earners will get a smaller portion of their income in retirement from Social Security, they generally need more assets in relation to their income. We estimated that most people looking to retire around age 65 should aim for assets totaling between 7½ and 13½ times their preretirement gross income.

77% of pre-retirees anticipate feeling happier on a typical day in retirement compared to 67% of current retirees who say they are happier. 75% of pre-retirees expect to feel less stressed, which matches retirees' experiences.

“The main problems people face when they retire are financial insecurity, health issues and social isolation,” says Derek Miser, investment advisor and CEO at Miser Wealth Partners in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Pros of retiring early include health benefits, opportunities to travel, or starting a new career or business venture. Cons of retiring early include the strain on savings, due to increased expenses and smaller Social Security benefits, and a depressing effect on mental health.

But every year you live, your life expectancy increases. So our question is this: What is the average life expectancy for a 65-year-old man and woman? Ready for the answer? For females, the average 65-year-old can expect to live to 86 years old, and males can expect to live to 83.

Most people live another 10 to 20 years after retirement, so it's important to think about the long term when planning how much to save. To reach the 80% goal, experts suggest setting aside at least 15% of your annual pre-tax income for retirement.

File at 65 and you lose 13.33 percent. If your full retirement benefit is $1,800 a month, over 20 years that 13.33 percent penalty adds up to a little over $57,585. AARP's Social Security Calculator can give you a sense of the financial impact of claiming benefits at various ages.