The U.S. does not have an official retirement age.
You're allowed to withdraw from your IRA or 401(k) plan penalty-free starting at age 59 1/2. You can claim Social Security benefits beginning at 62. Medicare eligibility begins at 65. And full retirement age for Social Security is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
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Generally speaking, it's common for U.S. workers to retire at some point in their 60s. But New York Life's latest Wealth Watch survey reveals that 35% of Americans today are delaying retirement or plan to do so. And the primary reasons for delaying are none other than insufficient retirement savings and inflation.
To be fair, these are two pretty big hurdles to overcome. But with the right strategy, you can set yourself up to retire on time and not have to plug away at a job longer than you want to.
How to boost your retirement savings
Fidelity suggests retiring with 10 times your ending salary to ensure that you have enough money to cover your expenses. If you're midway through your career, or further along, and it seems like you're nowhere close to reaching that target (or whatever target you decide is best for you), there are things you can do to ramp up.
First, assess your spending. Chances are, there's at least one bill you can reduce, if not more.
Next, consider a side hustle. It's not just a Gen Z or millennial thing. People of all ages can benefit from the gig economy, and the extra money is cash that can go straight into your IRA or 401(k).
Speaking of 401(k)s, if you have one, make sure you're contributing enough to claim your workplace match in full. And if you're able to, save your raise at the start of each by allocating it to your employer's retirement plan. You won't miss the extra money if it never starts landing in your paychecks, but rather, gets filtered automatically into your 401(k).
How to fight back against inflation
Inflation may be one of the biggest impediments to retiring on time. But if you invest in a manner that outpaces it, you can set yourself up to end your career on your preferred timeline.
To that end, it's a good idea to invest your IRA or 401(k) heavily in the stock market. IRAs let you hold individual stocks, so you can put together a mix across a range of market sectors. If you have a 401(k), you generally can't buy stocks individually. But you can put your money into an S&P 500 index fund.
You may not be the biggest fan of the stock market due to the risk involved. But if you play it too safe in your portfolio, you run the risk of not having enough money to retire on time.
It's also important to stay invested to beat inflation during retirement. To this end, you don't want to dump your stocks completely, but rather, scale back. It's also a good idea to load up on income-producing assets like dividend stocks and real estate investment trusts.
Don't put your plans on hold
It's easy to see why so many people are considering a delayed retirement today. And you may be thinking you'll work longer than planned, too.
But before you give up on retiring on time, think about ways you can grow your nest egg and position yourself to withstand inflation. You may find that with some modest but meaningful changes, you're able to boost your savings and gain more confidence in your ability to keep up with rising costs.
And if you do decide to postpone retirement, don't consider it a failure. Consider it a smart move that secures your future.
