At some point in your career, you may decide on an optimal age for retirement. That age may be 65, which is when Medicare eligibility begins. Or, it may be 62, which is the earliest age you can sign up for Social Security.
But as your target retirement age gets closer, it pays to consider whether it’s really the right time to bring your career to an end. And if these specific situations apply to you, you may want to delay retirement beyond the age you initially landed on.
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1. You don’t have a lot of savings
If you’re nearing your target retirement age with a $3 million nest egg, by all means, call it quits on the work front. But if your retirement plan balance isn’t much to write home about, then you may want to consider extending your career and working a bit longer.
Doing so could help you in a couple of ways. First, you may be able to add to your savings, even if just modestly. But just as importantly, by continuing to work, you’ll be able to leave your nest egg untapped a bit longer, thereby allowing you to stretch that relatively small sum.
2. You’re sitting on quite a bit of debt
Carrying debt isn’t a great thing for your finances whether you’re working or retired. But if you’re in the latter boat, debt can be truly detrimental.
It’s one thing to be making debt payments when you have a steady paycheck from work coming in. It’s another thing to be grappling with debt when you’re on a fixed income that consists of modest retirement plan withdrawals and Social Security.
If you’re still in quite a bit of debt, that’s a very good reason to delay your retirement. Working an extra year or two might allow you to whittle that debt down, or even eliminate it for good. From there, you might have a lot less stress for the remainder of your senior years.
3. You tend to get bored very easily
The great thing about holding down a job is that it keeps you busy. Once you retire, you’re going to need something to do with your days. And you might struggle once you realize how difficult it is to stay occupied day in, day out.
Now some people don’t mind spending hours each week milling around the house. But if that’s not you, then you may want to consider delaying your retirement and working a few more years — or, frankly, working as long as your body allows you to.
Granted, you could always look to scale back on work so you’re not necessarily putting in a 40-hour workweek at age 78. But being bored on a regular basis has the potential to mess with your mental health. And you don’t want to wind up miserable in retirement. So putting off that boredom is something you may want to strongly consider.
Plus, if you’re someone who gets bored easily, it might take a lot of savings for you to stay as busy as you’d like to once your career ends. So working longer may be necessary to bring your savings to that level.
It’s natural to want to forge forward with your planned retirement age. But if these situations apply to you, then delaying that milestone — even by just a year — could have a very positive impact.
