Americans are strangely retiring later in life. Here’s why

Americans are now retiring three or four years later in life than they did three decades ago, puzzling researchers and reversing a trend that had lasted more than a century.

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Several recent studies have confirmed this shift. Gallup found that from 1991 to 2022, the average U.S. retirement age rose from 57 to 61. The American Enterprise Institute said that from 1990 to 2019, the age rose from 62.6 to 65.6. And the Center for Retirement Research, a non-profit research group at Boston College, focused solely on male workers but reached largely the same conclusion: From 1991 to 2021, their average retirement age climbed from 61.9 to 64.7.

What makes this so startling is that for about 100 years, history had been moving in the opposite direction. Here's a look at some of the biggest factors driving that change: 5 reasons Americans are retiring later in life

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