Retirement Coming Early for the Older Unemployed
It used to be that you could decide at what age you wanted -- or were able -- to retire. Not any more.
According to a recent NPR report, older Americans are being forced to take early retirement because of the high unemployment rate. And the Social Security Administration confirms that more older Americans are applying for benefits early.
In fact, the average age of retirement for men and women has gone down steadily since 1945, when the average retirement age was 69.6. In 2008, the average retirement age stood at 63.6.
From the NPR report:
The Social Security Administration had predicted there would be a 15 percent increase in retirement applications last year as baby boomers reached retirement age. Instead, the increase was 20 percent."That's a significant amount," says Jason Fichtner, chief economist at the Social Security Administration.
Fichtner says you might expect fewer people to retire early after the beating so many 401(k)s took when the markets crashed.
"But we also see that there are those people who at age 62 or 63 might have lost their jobs and find it harder to find new employment and decide to take retirement benefits earlier," says Fichtner. "On net, there seems to be more people filing for early benefits than delaying."
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