Nearly 1 in 4 Americans over 50 are delaying retirement due to economic concerns, survey finds

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.

Among the 23% in the F&G study who plan to delay claims on their Social Security benefits, half cited financial uncertainties or economic volatility as the reason for their decision to delay retirement — a 10% increase from last year. Forty-four percent said they are worried about inflation, while 34% indicated they are worried about a recession or stock market downturn. 

They’re not the only ones, according to David John, a senior policy adviser at AARP.  The majority of Americans nearing retirement age are unsure of whether they will have enough money to make it through retirement as they fret over inflation and general economy uncertainty, he told CBS MoneyWatch. 

Along those lines, Johns said he’s also observed that people are cutting back on their retirement savings or pulling money out of retirement savings to deal with unexpected costs or inflationary pressures.

“Of course, that helps in the short run, but that means that you have even more people who have worries once they start to get to retirement,” he said.

Unlike 401(k)s and other retirement accounts, Social Security benefits are protected from inflation because the agency institutes a cost-of-living adjustment each year, John pointed out. To guard against disruptions to retirement plans, John suggests that people consistently put away money — even if it’s just a small amount each month.

“Save and continue to save,” he said. “Because any amount of retirement savings is going to be better than no retirement savings.”