At this point, a lot of people are getting ready to put 2025 to bed and welcome in 2026. And you may be especially excited about the new year if you're planning to bring your career to a close.
But the decision to retire is a big one, and it's important to end your career at the right time. Here are some signs that retiring in 2026 isn't the best idea for you -- and that you should work at least one more year before making that major change.
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1. You're not pleased with your savings
There's no single magic savings number that guarantees you'll have enough money in retirement. But as a general rule, if you estimate your annual income needs, subtract your Social Security benefits, and multiply the difference by 25, you'll get a pretty good sense of whether you've saved enough or not.
Say you think it'll cost $60,000 a year to be comfortable in retirement and Social Security will pay you $24,000 a year. The remaining $36,000 might need to come from your 401(k) plan or IRA. If you have at least $900,000 saved, in this case, you're golden. If not, you're looking at a shortfall.
It pays to run through this calculation and see what your savings look like. If your nest egg isn't large enough, consider delaying retirement at least one more year.
If you're way off from where you need to be, an extra year or two of savings may not do all that much for you. But working a bit longer could make it possible to delay your Social Security benefits for larger monthly checks. Each year you wait beyond full retirement age boosts your benefits by 8% for life, which is a great way to make up for a nest egg that may not meet your income needs.
2. You're on the cusp of being eligible for Medicare but not quite there
Healthcare could end up being a huge retirement expense for you -- especially if you end up in a situation where you have to buy your own coverage because you're not yet eligible for Medicare. Medicare eligibility typically starts at 65. So if you'll be 64 in 2026, you're close but still have a bit of a gap.
You could, in that case, see about retaining your workplace plan through COBRA or buying your own Marketplace insurance plan. But that could get expensive and force you to dip into your savings substantially early on.
Health coverage under Medicare isn't free, and there are many expenses you might incur, from plan premiums to deductibles to copays. But you may find that healthcare is less expensive as a Medicare enrollee compared to winging it yourself.
3. You have no idea what you'll do with your time
You may love the idea of having your days to yourself and not having to report to a job. But having too much downtime could easily become a bad thing. And it's best not to retire until you have a plan for how you'll spend your days.
If you can't picture that scenario quite yet, consider working another year to come up with some ideas and play around with different options. A side hustle you take on and enjoy could become something to do on a larger scale once you resign from your main job. Or you may find that in the course of a year, you're able to find some like-minded people who share your hobbies and can explore them with you.
Retirement in a huge decision from a financial and mental standpoints, so it's not one to rush into. If any of these points resonate with you, consider it a sign to rethink your plans to retire in 2026 and wait a bit longer.
