by Mary Cunningham of Money Watch
Older Americans are kicking the can down the road on retirement over concerns about the economy and their own financial readiness to step back from work.
That’s according to a new survey from F&G Annuities & Life, which polled 2,000 U.S. adults over 50 years old. The life insurance and annuities company found that 23% of those polled have already decided to delay their retirement as they grapple with questions about their financial readiness, up from 14% in 2024.
The findings come at a time when the median savings of 55-year-olds is just $50,000, far from enough to fund a secure old age, according to another recent study by Prudential Financial.
The F&G survey provides a snapshot into the thinking of Gen X, ages 45 to 60, whose oldest members are now entering their pre-retirement years. The average retirement age in the United States is 62, which is also the earliest age at which people can start claiming Social Security benefits.
The longer a person waits to claim Social Security, the higher benefit they’ll receive from the program. The full retirement age for people born in 1960 or later is 67, at which point workers can receive their full benefits. Those who delay claiming until age 70, however, can get another 24% boost to their monthly checks.