In part, she credits the lengthy, failed battles by Republicans to repeal the law in Congress or upend it in the courts. Another factor, she thinks, was the messy launch of the federal health exchange website, Healthcare.gov, and the ensuing bad publicity.

“If I am an older worker and working primarily for the health insurance, that means I’m a cautious, careful person -- perhaps someone with a serious health problem or a spouse with a problem," says Levy.

She adds that if people were in that situation on January 1, 2014, they would not retire so fast. They would want to make sure this new insurance will be there for all the years needed until they get to Medicare.

With the initial kinks worked out of the system and legal challenges foiled, workers may well head for the exits in the years ahead. “I think it’s too early to know,” says Linda Blumberg, senior fellow at the Urban Institute and a co-author of the 2013 forecast.

Indeed, entrepreneurship in this age group is becoming more commonplace. People age 55-65 accounted for 26 percent of all startups last year, up from 15 percent in 1996, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.

Interest in encore careers rose by 17 percent from 2011 to 2014, according to a national survey conducted by Encore.org.

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