Work till you drop? Here's why America's average retirement age keeps rising.

The average retirement age of American workers is creeping steadily up, according to a new report from a prominent economist.

And that trend invites a question: When will America’s retirement age stop rising?

Over the past three decades, the average retirement age has risen by about three years, economist Alicia Munnell reports in an April research brief. The typical retirement age in 2024 was 64 for men, 62 for women.

The upward trend is slow, but striking. In 1994, the average man worked to age 61, while the typical woman clocked out at 59.

Americans are living longer, and working longer

We’re working longer for several reasons:

• Americans are living longer, staying healthier, and working in less physically demanding jobs.

• Workplace pensions have given way to 401(k) plans, which reward workers who delay retirement.

• Social Security changes have pushed the “full retirement” age from 65 to 67, penalizing those who claim the benefit earlier.

• Fewer employers offer health insurance to workers who retire before 65, the year Medicare benefits begin.

“There were a lot of forces that encouraged people to work longer,” said Munnell, senior adviser at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, an organization she founded.

Are Americans working longer because they have to?

Does the trend toward later retirement bode well or ill for American society? Among retirement researchers, opinion is divided.

If Americans were working longer to stave off poverty, then a rising retirement age would be a bad thing, said Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. But he doesn’t see that happening, at least not for most Americans.

“They’re getting higher Social Security benefits, and the benefits they’re getting from private retirement plans have increased,” he said. “So, they don’t need to work to stay out of poverty.”

Whether American retirees have enough savings and benefits to live comfortably in retirement is, however, a matter of spirited debate.

In a viral 2024 op-ed, Biggs made the case that most retirees are managing just fine, even with relatively modest savings.

On the other hand, a 2024 AARP survey found that one-fifth of over-50 adults have no retirement savings, and that many worry they won’t have enough funds to last through retirement.

“So, for a meaningful share of workers, postponing retirement is likely a necessity to keep their main income stream going,” said Nicola Bianchi, assistant professor of strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Workers have a love-hate relationship with retirement

American workers have decidedly mixed emotions about retirement.

Millions of Americans dream of retiring early. As we age, dreams give way to reality, and many workers resolve to remain employed for as long as they can. The average over-50 worker expects to retire at 67, according to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

“Today’s workers envision extending their working lives beyond traditional retirement age because they want and need to work,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO of the Transamerica Center.

In the end, though, many of us retire earlier than we had planned, often because of corporate downsizing or declining health.

Munnell’s research sought to divine whether average retirement ages will rise further in years to come: One day, will most Americans work to age 70?

Probably not. Munnell concluded that the upward trend has likely peaked.

“There are all these forces that pushed up the average retirement age, beginning in the mid-‘90s,” she said. “And the thing that struck me is that every one of them seems to have played itself out.”

The gradual uptick in Social Security’s full retirement age is done, with no more changes planned. The shift from pensions to the 401(k) is complete, and half of American workers now participate in the plans. Meanwhile, the trend toward longer and healthier lives has slowed.

Two ages loom large in the retirement decision

In the calculus of American retirement, two specific ages loom large. One is 62, the year most Americans become eligible for Social Security. The other is 65, the year Medicare kicks in.

It’s no surprise that the average retirement age for men and women falls between those years, said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, or EBRI.

“I think those two years are going to be key,” he said. “Unless those are moved, I don’t see that the average retirement age is going to move much.”

The share of Americans who claim Social Security at 62 has dropped dramatically in recent decades. Based on expected longevity, most of us are better off financially if we wait until 70 to claim the benefit.

Even so, 62 remains the most popular age for Americans to claim Social Security.

Will the retirement age go down in 2025?

Munnell predicts the average retirement age may actually decline in 2025, for a reason that she might not have predicted in 2024.

The Trump administration’s cost-cutting campaign across federal government has triggered a torrent of new Social Security claims this year. New claims were up by more than 15% in March, compared with the same month in 2024.

Munnell and others ascribe the surge to widespread fears about the stability of the retirement trust fund, amid staff cuts, rule changes, website outages and leadership shuffles.

“They’re all racing in to claim benefits, which means they’re likely to stop working earlier than they had planned,” she said.

Future policy changes could determine whether America’s retirement age continues to rise.

Republicans in Congress have periodically proposed raising the full retirement age for Social Security, although President Trump has pledged not to touch it.

If the age of eligibility for full Social Security benefits rose from 67 to, say, 70, America’s average retirement age would probably resume its upward drift, Munnell said.

If Congress were to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare, retirement ages could rise even more dramatically. But retirement experts say it’s hard to imagine that scenario, given the high costs of health insurance.

“I don’t see that happening,” said Copeland of EBRI.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: America’s retirement age is rising. Will the trend ever reverse?