2. Many plan to retire early

Early retirement — Image credit: © Andrei ASKIRKA | Dreamstime.com

Of Americans who aren’t yet retired but plan to retire at some point, the NerdWallet survey found the planned retirement age is 57, on average. That’s a decade earlier than 67, the full retirement age for Social Security benefits.

Of Americans who haven’t retired yet but plan to, the average planned retirement age is 58 for those with household incomes of $100,000 or more. While age 58 is earlier than traditional retirement, it’s still later than Americans with lower household income plan to retire, despite potentially having less money to invest. Those with household income below $50,000 plan to retire at 54, on average, and those with household income between $50,000 and $74,999 plan to retire at 55, on average.

According to Franklin Templeton’s recent “Voice of the American Worker Survey,” Americans said they planned to retire at age 62 before the COVID 19 pandemic. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, rising costs from inflation and the uncertain economy, Americans said in that survey they are not planning to retire until age 65.