Nearly Half of Retirees Leave Work Earlier Than Planned
Most American workers assume they’ll call it quits around 65, but the reality is far different. According to the 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey put out by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, nearly half of retirees (46%) left the workforce earlier than planned. The average actual retirement age was 62, while the average age workers expected to retire remained 65.
A separate study paints an equally striking picture. The Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SARI)’s latest Retirement Risk Survey — which surveyed 2,012 Americans aged 45 to 80 — found that 59% of retirees left the workforce before they had expected, while only 6% retired later than planned.
Three Causes Dominate the Data
What’s driving those early exits? Three causes dominate the data — and two of them have nothing to do with personal choice. Here are the top three reasons why Americans are retiring early.
1. Health Setbacks
Health problems are the single most common cause of unplanned early retirement, and they fall hardest on lower-income workers. According to the SARI report, changes in health status were cited by 49% of retirees with incomes under $35,000 as the primary reason for retiring early. The EBRI/Greenwald survey reinforces this finding, with TheStreet noting that 41% of those who retired early did so because of a health problem or disability — 10% more than the year before.
That financial impact compounds quickly. Retiring at age 62 instead of 65 means three fewer years of contributions, three additional years of withdrawals and — critically — three years without employer-sponsored health insurance before Medicare eligibility begins at age 65.
2. Job Loss and Employer-Driven Disruption
The second major cause of early retirement isn’t voluntary either. Corporate restructuring, downsizing and business closures accounted for 35% of early retirements, according to the EBRI/Greenwald survey. When older workers lose jobs, reemployment at comparable wages is often difficult to achieve — and many effectively retire by default rather than by design.
The SARI report confirms job loss as a consistent factor across all income levels, impacting 18% to 20% of early retirees across all household income. It was circumstances like this and health-related events — entirely outside a worker’s control — that drove 76% of all unplanned early retirements last year, TheStreet reported based on the EBRI/Greenwald survey.
3. Job Dissatisfaction — The One Factor Within Your Control
For higher-income workers, the picture looks different. The SARI report found that among retirees with incomes over $75,000, job dissatisfaction was the leading reason for early retirement, cited by 29% of respondents — ahead of health status or job loss. Achieving a savings goal earlier than expected ranked second at 24%.
For these workers, early retirement is a choice, and sometimes an active one.
