Though many Americans believe they'll retire in their early 60s, a new study indicates that perception is rarely reality.
Conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, the study, titled "The myth of early retirement," details how the average retirement age is usually higher than what typical measures suggest.
According to the study's lead author, economist Monique Morrissey, over the past 25 years, men and women have been retiring later and later. For example, the share of 55- to 64-year-olds still in the labor force today is at its highest level on record. In addition, the percentage of workers overall who are at least 55 years old is the same it was 50 years ago.
Morrissey says the average retirement age is better determined when the labor force participation rate of non-disabled workers is at half its peak, which is 65.5 currently. The average is arrived at after including disabled people who are not in the workforce yet are receiving.
This statistic is worthy to inform insurance leads of, as it relates to why an annuity may be in their best financial interest.