What Is the Right Retirement Age and Why?
These days, determining the best day to retire can be a difficult challenge. Every year, news of how people are living longer and longer lives is reported. Retiring at 62 used to mean only a decade or so before you were looking at the average life expectancy. However, now you are looking at 20 or even 30 years of life after retirement. You have to reconsider if 62 or 65 is a good age, and how does this affect retirement plans?
Most people retire after spending 20 years in the planning phase. They work hard and they save and try to plan the best they can for things like poor health, accidents, and other eventualities that might affect their ability to work. However, everyone looks to have a long and rewarding retirement.
The first thing to do is define it. Retirement is defined as leaving traditional employment. Most people spend the first few years of this retirement phase as semi-retired. Most people work at jobs they have always wanted to do and explore business opportunities that are by choice instead of necessity.
Most people view it in three stages: early, on-time and late. This is usually determined by Social Security. Using the guidelines Social Security uses, early retirement is before the age of 62. When you are retiring early, it usually ranges between ages 55 and 62.
Retiring early has some great benefits but it also has some disadvantages, such as less time to build retirement benefits. Normal retirement age is between 62 and 67 years old. You have more time to build a retirement fund. You do not have to pay expensive insurance since you qualify for Medicare, which can help to increase your retirement accounts. If you have a pension, you do not usually qualify for full benefits until you are at least 62. Before then, they reduce your benefits.
Retiring late past age 67 has a few benefits as well, such as more time to save for retirement and qualifying for full pensions and benefits. Sometimes you even qualify for higher social security benefits and you have a few years to live on retirement. The downside is you do have to worry about quality of life. Some things are more difficult to do physically as a late retiree.
The best age for retirement is the age where the benefits of retiring outweigh the benefits of continuing to work. Early retirement may leave you without benefits, late retirement may leave you being physically restricted and on-time retirement may not work for everyone financially. A Roth IRA is a good way to plan for retirement because it allows you to save money and withdraw it when you are ready to retire.
Most people retire after spending 20 years in the planning phase. They work hard and they save and try to plan the best they can for things like poor health, accidents, and other eventualities that might affect their ability to work. However, everyone looks to have a long and rewarding retirement.
The first thing to do is define it. Retirement is defined as leaving traditional employment. Most people spend the first few years of this retirement phase as semi-retired. Most people work at jobs they have always wanted to do and explore business opportunities that are by choice instead of necessity.
Most people view it in three stages: early, on-time and late. This is usually determined by Social Security. Using the guidelines Social Security uses, early retirement is before the age of 62. When you are retiring early, it usually ranges between ages 55 and 62.
Retiring early has some great benefits but it also has some disadvantages, such as less time to build retirement benefits. Normal retirement age is between 62 and 67 years old. You have more time to build a retirement fund. You do not have to pay expensive insurance since you qualify for Medicare, which can help to increase your retirement accounts. If you have a pension, you do not usually qualify for full benefits until you are at least 62. Before then, they reduce your benefits.
Retiring late past age 67 has a few benefits as well, such as more time to save for retirement and qualifying for full pensions and benefits. Sometimes you even qualify for higher social security benefits and you have a few years to live on retirement. The downside is you do have to worry about quality of life. Some things are more difficult to do physically as a late retiree.
The best age for retirement is the age where the benefits of retiring outweigh the benefits of continuing to work. Early retirement may leave you without benefits, late retirement may leave you being physically restricted and on-time retirement may not work for everyone financially. A Roth IRA is a good way to plan for retirement because it allows you to save money and withdraw it when you are ready to retire.
