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Working Americans expect to retire at age 66, up from 63 in 2002, according to a recent Gallup poll. But most retirees don't stay on the job nearly that long. The average retirement age among retirees is 62, Gallup found. And even retirement at age 62 is a recent development. The average retirement age has hovered around 60 for most of the past decade. "Americans have two reasons in which they may project a later retirement year. One is financial, and they simply think they will need to work longer because there are fewer pensions, and now people may have a more psychologically positive view of work," says Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of Gallup poll. But a plan to work longer isn't the same as keeping a job into your mid- or late 60s. Other surveys have similarly found a significant gap between the age workers anticipate retiring and when they actually leave their jobs. A 2017 Employee Benefit Research Institute survey found that 33 percent of workers expect to retire after age 65, but only 16 percent of retirees report staying on the job that long. Just 9 percent of workers say they are planning to retire before age 60, but 35 percent of retirees say they retired that early. The median retirement age in the survey was 62. Many of these early retirements are unexpected and due to unforeseen circumstances. About half (49 percent) of retirees say they left the workforce earlier than planned, often to cope with a health problem or disability (61 percent) or to care for a spouse or other family member (18 percent), EBRI found. Other retirees are forced out of their jobs due to changes at their company, such as a downsizing or closure (18 percent), changes in the skills required for their job (7 percent) or other work-related reasons (22 percent). | 
