Wait Until 67+ to retire? Not So Fast...

Do let me point out something that may not be widely known. Some years ago, we did a study of our retirees. A friend in management called me into his office one day and gave me a photocopy of the article, and told me I should distribute it far and wide. Before I go on, let me point out that he died a year or two after he retired, of cancer.

The study showed that Retirees who retired at age 55 lived another 23 years average, to age 78. Every year after age 55 people retired, their age at death (recorded when pension checks stopped, of coure) also dropped. A double whammy.

Those who worked to age 65 lived to an average age of 65 years and nine months. In our company, there was a sudden flood of people retiring at exactly age 55.

Have you ever noticed that in retirement communities like Florida and Arizona, that the parks all have signs on the front that state:

"55+ Community"

Or similar?