{"id":287378,"date":"2026-05-18T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.futbolete.com\/?p=287378"},"modified":"2026-05-17T20:27:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T00:27:20","slug":"checklist-retirement-age-62","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/checklist-retirement-age-62\/","title":{"rendered":"A Checklist Before Choosing to Retire at Age 62 in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many Americans set their sights on 62<\/strong> because it’s the earliest age to claim Social Security retirement benefits<\/strong>. For others, the timing isn’t really a choice at all. A 2025 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research found that roughly 4 in 10 retirees left the workforce earlier than they had planned.<\/p>\n

Stopping work before you’re ready<\/strong> \u2014 financially or otherwise \u2014 can trigger lasting damage to your income, health coverage and long-term security that many people don’t see coming until it’s too late.<\/p>\n

Workers between 55 and 64<\/strong> who lose a job are less likely than younger workers to find new employment, and more likely to exit the labor force through retirement, according to a 2025 review of federal labor data by the Government Accountability Office.<\/p>\n

You can file for Social Security, but you’ll get less \u2013 permanently<\/h2>\n

Claiming at 62 cuts your benefit<\/strong> by as much as 30% compared to full retirement age (67 for those born 1960 or later). Wait until 70<\/strong>, and you get an 8% increase for each year you delay.<\/p>\n

“I suggest everyone consider waiting if they can,” says CFP Rob Williams. Before deciding, look at your full income picture: savings, pensions, and how it affects a spouse’s options. Claiming Social Security the moment you retire at 62<\/strong> is accepting a permanent pay cut. “Run through the scenarios,” Williams advises. “That Social Security decision is a very important one.”<\/p>\n

You may live longer than you’re counting on<\/h2>\n

The biggest financial miscalculation among people who retire at 62<\/strong> is underestimating how long their money needs to last. An American who reaches 62 can expect 20+ more years on average \u2013 20 for a man, 23 for a woman.<\/p>\n

“Much of the population is living much longer than in the past,” says Alicia Munnell of Boston College. That means supporting yourself far longer than you anticipated. Fidelity estimates a 65\u2011year\u2011old man needs $172,500 in after\u2011tax savings just for out\u2011of\u2011pocket medical expenses<\/strong>. Working even one additional year shifts the calculation significantly.<\/p>\n

“In my view, working longer is the most important thing you can do to have a secure retirement,” Munnell says. “It gives you higher monthly Social Security benefits, lets you wait to access Medicare, allows your 401(k) to keep building<\/strong>, gives you time to pay off your mortgage, and reduces the number of years you have to sustain yourself on your savings.”<\/p>\n

You can’t enroll in Medicare yet<\/h2>\n

Retiring at 62 means finding and paying for health coverage on your own for at least three years, until Medicare eligibility begins<\/strong> at 65. That gap has a real price tag. “Covered employees are used to paying premiums through their paychecks and getting more attractive rates,” Williams says. “That may not be the case in the private market.”<\/p>\n

Options exist but aren’t cheap<\/strong>. COBRA lets you stay on your former employer’s plan for 18 to 36 months, but you’ll pay the full premium plus up to 2% administrative charge. ACA marketplace plans cover pre\u2011existing conditions; depending on your income, premium tax credits can help.<\/p>\n

People with very low incomes may qualify for Medicaid<\/strong> \u2013 in most states, the threshold is 138% of the federal poverty level ($22,025 for a single person in 2026). More than 1,400 community health centers charge fees on a sliding scale.<\/p>\n

Retirement is expensive \u2013 Inflation keeps eating<\/h2>\n

Inflation doesn’t stop when the paychecks do. Since early 2020, overall consumer prices have climbed roughly 25%<\/strong>. “Just because you can transition to a fixed income at today’s prices doesn’t mean you’ll be comfortable after 10 or 20 years of prices going up,” says Chris Manske.<\/p>\n

The Federal Reserve’s inflation target is 2%, and the rate hovered between 2 and 3%<\/strong> throughout 2025. Building in an extra 2\u20133% savings cushion before you retire can make a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n

You might miss work more than you expect<\/h3>\n

Work isn’t just a paycheck. It structures your days, sustains social connections, and provides a sense of purpose. “A lot of people don’t know what to do with their time. A lot of people retire and they hate it<\/strong>,” Williams says. Retirement planning isn’t only about the numbers \u2013 it also means deciding what life actually looks like afterward. That doesn’t happen by itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many Americans set their sights on 62 because it’s the earliest age to claim Social Security retirement benefits. For others, the timing isn’t really a choice at all. A 2025 … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":287379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-287378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-retirement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futbolete.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}