Two numbers drive the retirement conversation in the US: the age people actually stop working, and the money they’ve put aside to live on. The latest data from the Federal Reserve, Vanguard, Fidelity, and the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College gives us a clear — and often uncomfortable — look at the financial reality of retired Americans.
The average retirement age in the United States is 65 for men and 63 for women, according to the Boston College center. But other estimates put the overall average around 62. That difference comes down to whether you count people who leave the workforce because they have to — health issues, disability, or caring for a family member. There’s a built-in gap between what people plan for and what actually happens.
A Retirement Age Discussion: The Gap Between Expectation and Reality
Workers who are still on the job think they’ll retire at 66 on average. The gap between that expectation and reality — two to four years, depending on which numbers you look at — shows that outside factors end up pushing a lot of people out earlier than they’d figured.
Since 1991, the average retirement age has gone up from 57. The trend is steady and goes one way: Americans are working longer than they did decades ago. Between 2002 and 2007, 76% of adults between 65 and 69 were already retired.
Between 2016 and 2022, that share dropped to 70%. Early retirement has also fallen. People leaving work between 50 and 54 went from 9% of the total to 6%. Those retiring between 55 and 59 dropped from 19% to 11%.
Let’s Talk About the SSA Full Retirement Age
The Social Security Administration’s full retirement age is 67 for people born in 1960 or later. Retire before that, and your monthly check gets permanently cut. Someone who starts collecting at 62 gets 25% to 30% less than if they’d waited until 67. Medicare eligibility kicks in at 65, which makes that age a practical milestone for a lot of workers.
There are big differences by state:
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The lowest average is in Alaska and West Virginia, where people retire at 61.
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On the other end, South Dakota, Massachusetts, and Hawaii have averages of 66.
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Washington D.C. hits 67.
States with more manual labor and manufacturing tend to see earlier retirements.
What Retirees Have Actually Saved in America
Retirement savings vary a lot depending on who’s measuring and how. The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances — the go-to source here — shows that households headed by someone 65 to 74 have an average of $609,230 in retirement accounts. But the median is $200,000.
That difference isn’t just a technical detail. The average gets pulled up by a small group of very wealthy Americans. The median gives you the real middle — half of households have more, half have less.
For the 55 to 64 group — those closest to retirement — the average is $537,560 and the median is $185,000. For people over 75, both numbers fall: average down to $462,410, median down to $130,000. That’s what happens when you start spending down what you saved.
Vanguard’s numbers, based on nearly five million participants in defined-contribution plans at the end of 2024, look different because they only track those types of accounts. For over-65s in their client base, the average balance is $299,442 and the median is $95,425. Fidelity, also with late-2024 data, reports that baby boomers — the generation retiring in bulk right now — have an average of $249,300 in 401(k) accounts and $257,002 in IRAs.
Social Security as the Backbone
Given all that, Social Security is the most widely used support system. Roughly 90% of people over 65 get benefits. The average monthly payment for retired workers in 2025 is $1,976. That’s about 30% of older adults’ total income. But for a big chunk of the population, it’s way more than that: 37% of men and 42% of women on Social Security rely on it for more than half their monthly income.
The “magic number” — what Americans think they need to retire comfortably — hit $1.46 million in 2026, up from $1.26 million in 2025. The gap between that wishful thinking and actual balances is huge across pretty much every age group. Only about 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in retirement accounts.
More than half of current workers — 59% — plan to keep working in some form during retirement, either part-time or occasionally. Among people already retired, 34% say they work part-time to bring in extra cash, according to a Goldman Sachs survey. The bottom line: a fully retired, financially self-sufficient life isn’t something most Americans’ savings can guarantee on their own.
