<\/p>\n
New data suggests millions of Americans are at risk of retiring before they are financially prepared. <\/p>\n
The Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research found that 46% of Americans who retired last year left the workforce earlier than they originally planned.<\/p>\n
The forces behind those early exits tell a story that should concern anyone who assumes they will get to choose when their career ends.<\/p>\n
Health problems and layoffs account for most unplanned early retirements<\/p>\n
Unplanned health conditions and corporate restructuring were the two largest forces pushing workers out of their careers ahead of schedule, according to the 2026 EBRI survey. Among those who retired early, 41% cited a health problem or disability, up from 31% in 2025.<\/p>\n
Corporate changes, including downsizing, business closures, and reorganization, accounted for 35% of early retirements, making employer-driven disruption the second most common involuntary cause, EBRI reported.<\/p>\n
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Circumstances entirely outside the individual worker\u2019s control were responsible for 76% of all unplanned early retirements in 2025, the survey indicated. <\/p>\n
A 2018 Urban Institute paper, How Secure Is Employment at Older Ages?, found that about one-half of full-time, full-year workers ages 51\u201354 experience an employer-related involuntary job separation.<\/p>\n
The combination of health setbacks and employer-driven exits leaves little room for workers to course-correct. <\/p>\n
Workers who are forced out by a layoff or a sudden diagnosis rarely have time to close savings gaps, pay down remaining debt, or delay Social Security claims long enough to lock in higher monthly benefits.<\/p>\n
Workers expect to retire at 65, but the median age is 62<\/p>\n
The gap between when workers plan to retire and when they actually do has persisted for over two decades, and the latest data confirms it. <\/p>\n
Between 40% and 50% of retirees in any given year since the late 1990s have reported retiring earlier than anticipated, the EBRI data showed.<\/p>\n
It’s hard to make the case that everyone should work longer and that will solve the problems we have in retirement. That clearly won’t solve all the problems because many people just can’t do it<\/p>\n
Workers surveyed in January 2026 reported a median expected retirement age of 65, while retirees reported a median actual departure age of 62. <\/p>\n
Nearly four in ten workers said they expect to retire at 70 or later, or not at all, but only 10% of retirees reported working that long, EBRI found. <\/p>\n
Only 12% of workers said they plan to retire before 60, yet 29% of retirees reported leaving the workforce by that age, according to EBRI data.<\/p>\n
Workers expect retirement at 65, but most actually leave the workforce at 62, revealing a persistent gap between plans and reality decades.<\/p>\n
Maskot/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Lower-income retirees face the steepest health-related retirement risks<\/p>\n
The financial toll of early retirement is not equal across income groups, and a study from the Society of Actuaries confirms that divide.<\/p>\n
Among retirees with less than $35,000 in retirement income, 49% cited health as the reason for early retirement, according to the Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s 2024 Retirement Risk Survey, released in May 2026.<\/p>\n
Middle-income retirees earning between $35,000 and $75,000 cited health as a reason at 31%, while higher-income retirees earning above $75,000 reported health-driven departures at only 22%. <\/p>\n
Wealthier individuals tend to retire early by choice, while lower-income workers more frequently face health or employer-driven exits, Copeland explained to USA Today.<\/p>\n
Retirement confidence drops as debt, healthcare costs, and inflation grow<\/p>\n
Confidence in having enough money for a comfortable retirement fell sharply in 2026, dropping six percentage points among workers to just 61%, EBRI reported.<\/p>\n
Retiree confidence also declined by five percentage points to 73%, as concerns over the future of Social Security and Medicare weighed on financial outlooks. <\/p>\n
Seven in ten retirees and four in five workers said they are concerned the government will make changes to the retirement system, EBRI reported.<\/p>\n
Nearly 60% of workers said healthcare expenses are undermining their ability to save, while 65% identified outstanding debt as a significant barrier, according to the EBRI survey. <\/p>\n
\u201cRetirement confidence has clearly softened this year, and the data show why,\u201d Copeland said in a statement released alongside the survey on April 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
Moves that can cushion an unplanned retirement<\/p>\n
Kamila Elliott, a certified financial planner and CEO of Collective Wealth Partners, told CNBC that workers nearing retirement should focus on two priorities.<\/p>\n
The first is to pay down outstanding debt, such as credit cards, car loans, lines of credit, and mortgages, while still working, Elliott said, since doing so frees up cash flow once a regular paycheck stops. <\/p>\n
Workers in their 50s and 60s carrying high-interest balances into retirement risk eroding the fixed income they will need to last for decades.<\/p>\n
The second is to maximize catch-up contributions in the final working years. <\/p>\n
Individuals aged 50 and older can contribute an additional $8,000 to a 401(k) and an extra $1,100 to an IRA in 2026,\u00a0according to the IRS, while workers between the ages of 60 and 63 qualify for an even larger catch-up limit of $11,250 under the SECURE 2.0 Act.<\/p>\n
Related: EBRI traced 89% of retirement savings loss to one gap<\/p>\n
#EBRI #workers #retire #theyre #ready<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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