Nearly one-quarter of Americans don't plan to retire, poll says

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Monday, July 8, 2019
Poll: 1 in 4 don't plan to retire despite realities of aging
Nearly one-quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of aging in the workforce.

When it comes to no longer working, nearly one-quarter of Americans say they don't ever plan to retire, according to a new poll.

According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 23% of workers, including nearly 2 in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.

According to government data, about 1 in 5 people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June.

For many, the decision to stay in the workforce comes down to money and not having enough to retire.

"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."

When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14% of Americans under the age of 50 and 29% over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another 4 in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared. By comparison, 56% of younger adults say they don't feel prepared for retirement.

However, if you do plan to retire -- experts recommend saving early -- and making frequent contributions to a 401K or savings account.

On average, they say, people should aim to save $1.7 million for retirement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.