“I suspect most people are ignoring medical expenses," VanDerhei says. "They magically think Medicare will take care of everything, and very few factor in long-term care expenses.” Once they do that, he says, that 70 percent estimate blows up, unless they’re lucky enough to have a good long-term care policy. If they’re luckier still and don’t need long-term care, VanDerhei figures people can probably get away with 100 percent of pre-retirement income. Yet just 10 percent of workers estimated that they’d need more than 95 percent of pre- retirement income in retirement.

Then there are those expectations of working longer, and the 10 percent of workers who plan to never stop working. Retiring before 60 was the goal for just 9 percent of workers surveyed, but was the reality for 36 percent, and not necessarily by choice. Twenty-six percent of workers said they would wait till 70 to retire; 6 percent of retirees actually managed that. 

Over the years, the survey has found that about 40 to 50 percent of retirees stop work earlier than planned, and the percentage was 50 percent in 2015. In this year's survey, 60 percent cited health problems or disability, 27 percent cited changes at their company and 22 percent said the need to care for a family member was a reason for retiring before they had planned to.

There was some good news in those numbers, too. Thirty-one percent of retirees said they left the workforce earlier because they could afford it, and 17 percent said a desire to do something else played into retiring earlier than planned.



Still, it's a risky proposition. “If you have a choice, take control of what you can control and don’t defer the pain until later, when you have zero control over whether you’ll continue to work or not,” VanDerhei said.

At the very least, think about giving up takeout and saving that extra $25 a week.

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