Survey Finds 59 Percent of Retirees Left Workforce Earlier Than Planned

A new survey shows that 59 percent of retirees left the workforce earlier than they had planned. Only 6 percent retired later than expected. The Retirement Risk Survey, released in May by the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, interviewed 1,007 pre-retirees and 1,005 retirees in 2024. The report found that health setbacks ranked as the top reason for early retirement.

For retirees earning under $35,000, changes in health status were the most common factor, followed by job loss. Both reasons were outside the worker's control. For retirees earning over $75,000, job dissatisfaction was the leading reason, followed by reaching a savings goal earlier than expected.

Timothy Geddes, a managing director at Deloitte Consulting and co-author of the report, said these higher-income retirees often described the decision as positive.

Retirees who left earlier than planned listed the following factors: changes in health status at 31 percent, job dissatisfaction at 25 percent, job loss at 20 percent, change in family situation at 19 percent, and achieving a retirement savings goal earlier than expected at 16 percent.

Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, said higher-income workers were more likely to retire by choice while lower-income workers more often cited health or job changes outside their control.

In the Society of Actuaries survey, 19 percent of retirees said they were worse off financially than expected. In the EBRI survey, 24 percent described their standard of living as fair or poor.