NBC News: Are You Ready to Retire? That Depends

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/are-you-ready-retire-depends-n317891

BY KELLEY HOLLAND

If you have socked away money in a 401(k) and your 60th birthday is behind you, chances are you are thinking about when to retire.

Chances are, too, that you are planning to retire sooner rather than later. The average retirement age seems to have stabilized at 62 for women and 64 for men, according to new research from Boston College's Center for Retirement Research. But retiring too young can be very harmful to your financial health, the study found, and older workers would do well to hang in a bit longer.

Continuing to work reduces the amount of time when people need to live on their savings. It can also lead to more guaranteed retirement income. "An individual who delays claiming Social Security from age 62 to age 70 receives a monthly benefit that is 76 percent higher," said Alicia Munnell, director of the center.

Shrinking pension benefits

The retirement age is stabilizing largely because the forces pushing it higher have been played out. Consider the shift in retirement plans, for example. In 1979, 74 percent of workers participating in retirement plans had a defined benefit pension that would provide a fixed income stream, according to Labor Department data.

FULL story at link.

[Skittles]

1. what's with that picture

she doesn't look 62

Detest that last paragraph:
(....Munnell believes that today's workers need to be encouraged to continue working) - let's say it like it is - future workers will be FORCED to work longer because they're being royally screwed on all fronts

[Omaha Steve]

13. Maybe her...

SO is?

[RandySF]

2. I already know i'll just drop dead.

Hopefully, I can leave something behind for the kid.

[kelly1mm]

3. My wife and I just retired last June in our mid 40's. She was a school teacher and did

not want to deal with the high stakes testing and parents that believe their special snowflake can do no wrong. Due to the ACA and 401k/403b and Roth IRA conversions, the financing of retirement is a lot easier now.

[LibDemAlways]

4. There are untold numbers in their mid fifties and beyond

who have been involuntarily "retired" due to being laid off. Their job prospects are bleak and those who aren't old enough to collect even reduced social security are in a world of hurt. I hate articles that tell people to stick it out until 70. Many do and then die shortly after hanging it up. Others would love to be working at that age but the best they can do is WalMart greeter. Sucks to get old.

[Sherman A1]

7. Agreed

I find these hold off until your 70 articles insulting. I will retire when all the factors come into alignment and that will be in the foreseeable future I am in hopes. Young enough to enjoy a bit of it and old enough to have put the finances into place.

It is important to plan, certainly, but it's also important to enjoy your life.. you only get one of them.

[Kalidurga]

5. My SO is 60

I am trying to talk him into retiring now. He has two houses and owns one outright. He won't get much from the government, but he could rent one house out to make up for the difference and then work on renting the one we live in out and downsize. So, that would more than make up for money he doesn't get in Social Security and it would make up for any loss of retirement benefits from his job. He doesn't want to though he has this idea that he should make more money to give to the kids.

Oh his job is physically demanding. If he was a desk jockey I would say go another decade or whatever.

[bhikkhu]

6. I'm guessing I'll have to work until I'm 70

...which is easy to say, but getting there is another story. As a blue collar worker at 50, I'm already pushing it. I don't know anyone in my field who's lasted past 60, of all the places I've worked and all the people I've known in 27 years of wrenching.

[NBachers]

8. My retail hardware job is fast-paced and physically active- I'm 66, and I'll keep at it 'till I'm 70

I also am toying with an idea of working even a couple of years beyond that, and collecting my Social Security max payment and my 401K little monthly income. I could live on my job income, like I'm doing now, and pump the rest into a retirement account. It would sure help build up a bigger cushion. Plus, more years of job-provided health insurance is an incentive to keep working.

My biggest concern is keeping myself at the same level of activity after I retire. If I just lay around and stay up late, I might end up one of those guys who die six weeks later. It will be a challenge.

[B Calm]

9. I retired at 62. I read that people who retire early have a longer life span

than the ones who continue to work. If you elect to draw social security at 62 instead of full benefits at age 66, you would have to live to be age 77 to make up the difference.

[Javaman]

10. I have a coffin under my desk...

that's my retirement plan

[HereSince1628]

11. Ah yes, the wooden komono masquerading as office storage.

[Rex]

15. Mine too. nt

nt

[SheilaT]

12. That's interesting.

I don't personally know anyone who really retired early. I have one friend who started collecting SS on her ex-husband's account but continued working all the while.

I stopped working last year in April, turned 66 in August, but not yet collecting SS. That will be put off for another couple of years at least.

What do all those people who retire before Medicare do for health insurance? I realize that now the ACA makes that better, but before then, what did they do?

[Puglover]

14. I retired at 55

and my husband last week at 60. I worked for NWA and have a pension; he worked for the USPS and also will have a pension.

We are so lucky. We built a home in Ecuador and will be moving down there for good in October. Only thing left to do here is sell/toss/pack 30 years worth of stuff and sell the house.

We are lucky because of the pensions. I can't imagine how younger folks will be able to retire as easily as we did. It's not huge but my 1300.00 a month makes a huge difference.

[Victor_c3]

16. I'll be retiring this year (I'm 35)

Good ol' disability retirement that is. That paperwork is in and is being processed right now. I expect to be retired about the begining of summer.

[Omaha Steve]

17. I retired two months short of 58 for health reasons

My platinum level health insurance is good (in theory) until I get to medicare thanks to my union.

When I'm gone Marta gets 75% of my pension for life unless she remarries. I told her to live in sin. My life insurance is paid up because of my union contract and condition. She will get what is left of my deferred comp.

She has a CWA pension from 18 years at the phone company. She has a pension and 401k from her current employer.

And we both have very little $ in stocks. Some tax free.

Retiring when your terminal like me or too sick to enjoy it sucks. Go when you can and enjoy it to the max.

OS