Yes, and the numbers are even more alarming than the headline suggests. At least 29% of workers over 55 report they plan to work past 70 because they cannot afford to retire—but recent data shows the reality is considerably worse. A 2026 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey found that 58% of survey respondents plan to work at least 5 more years before leaving the workforce, which would put them at age 70 or older. More broadly, 39% of all workers expect to retire at age 70 or older, while another 16% don’t plan to retire at all. These aren’t workers with lavish plans; they’re people who have spent decades in the workforce and now face the sobering prospect of never fully stepping away. The financial pressure is relentless. According to AARP’s February 2026 data, 39% to 41% of people age 50-plus who are working say their primary reason is to afford everyday living costs—basic necessities like housing, food, and healthcare.
This isn’t about maintaining a comfortable retirement lifestyle; it’s about paying rent. Consider a 58-year-old accounts manager in the Midwest who had planned to retire at 65 but now realizes her $50,000 in savings won’t support even a modest retirement. She’s looking at working another 10 to 15 years just to reach a point where she might feel secure enough to stop. For millions of older Americans, this scenario isn’t hypothetical—it’s their reality. The broader picture reveals a retirement security crisis. Roughly 50% of households age 55 and over have zero retirement savings in an IRA or defined contribution plan. Among households ages 55 to 64 specifically, 41% have no retirement savings at all, and 55% have less than $25,000 saved. These figures suggest that nearly half of Americans in their late working years are facing retirement with virtually no financial cushion, leaving them with few choices other than to keep working.
Table of Contents
- Why Are Millions of Older Workers Unable to Afford Retirement?
- The Retirement Savings Shortfall That’s Forcing Extended Careers
- Working Past 70: The Reality of Aging Workforce Participation
- Why Early Retirement Planning Is Critical for Financial Security
- The Hidden Costs of Working Longer: Age Discrimination and Job Market Challenges
- The “Unretirement” Trend: When Retirees Return to Work
- Looking Ahead: What Changes Are Needed for Secure Retirement?
- Conclusion
Why Are Millions of Older Workers Unable to Afford Retirement?
The answer lies in a combination of stagnant wages, rising living costs, and decades of savings shortfalls. For workers in their 50s and 60s, the math doesn’t add up. Healthcare costs have doubled in real terms over the past two decades. Housing costs consume a larger share of income. Inflation erodes savings in real purchasing power. Meanwhile, wage growth for workers in this age group has lagged significantly behind productivity gains, meaning that while companies have generated more value, workers haven’t seen proportional salary increases.
A worker earning $55,000 per year in their 50s is unlikely to have accumulated enough savings to live on $30,000 to $40,000 annually for 30 years of retirement. The gap between where workers thought they’d be and where they actually are is staggering. Many workers in their 50s today entered the workforce when defined-benefit pensions were still common. As companies shifted to 401(k) plans in the 1980s and 1990s, the responsibility for retirement planning shifted from employers to employees. However, most workers lack the financial literacy, disciplined savings behavior, or sufficient income to actually build adequate retirement reserves. Someone earning $45,000 annually simply cannot save 15% to 20% of income for retirement while also paying rent, raising a family, and managing healthcare costs. The math was broken from the start for millions of workers.
The Retirement Savings Shortfall That’s Forcing Extended Careers
The numbers paint a dire picture. Forty percent of workers aged 55 to 65 have no retirement plan in place at all—not a 401(k), not an IRA, nothing. For those who do have some retirement savings, the amounts are shockingly small. Among households ages 55 to 64, the median retirement account balance is well below what financial planners recommend. The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s research consistently shows that more than half of households in the 55-64 age group are woefully unprepared, with less than $25,000 in retirement savings. For a couple with basic healthcare, housing, and living expenses, $25,000 might last two to three years in retirement at best. The limitation of relying on government programs like Social Security further complicates the picture.
While Social Security provides a foundation, the maximum benefit for someone retiring at full retirement age is around $3,800 to $4,000 monthly in 2026. For someone who delayed claiming until age 70, benefits are higher—roughly 20% to 30% more—but many workers cannot afford to wait that long. A person with $20,000 in savings cannot subsist on Social Security alone if they retire in their mid-60s, particularly if they live in areas with high housing costs or have ongoing healthcare expenses. This reality forces workers to make impossible choices: keep working despite declining health and age-related challenges, or retire and face financial stress that could lead to poverty. The wage growth limitation for workers in their 60s presents another obstacle. Many older workers facing age discrimination find it extremely difficult to find new employment if they lose a job. According to recent data, 67% of older workers report that it would be difficult to find a new job, with age discrimination cited as a primary barrier. This means that once a worker leaves their current position, they may not be able to find comparable work, further trapping them in positions they might want to leave.
Working Past 70: The Reality of Aging Workforce Participation
The trend is already visible in the labor force statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 74.9% of adults in their late 50s will be in the workforce in 2030, and 62.4% of those aged 60 to 64 will still be working. These aren’t voluntary, phased retirements where workers enjoy a gradual transition to leisure—they’re forced extensions driven by financial desperation. A construction worker in their late 60s who wanted to retire a decade ago but kept working because of inadequate savings is not the same as a consultant who continues working because they enjoy the professional challenge.
The physical and mental toll of extended work cannot be ignored. Warehouse workers, nurses, construction workers, and others in physically demanding occupations face genuine health deterioration from continuing to work into their 70s. Studies show that people in physically demanding jobs who work longer have higher rates of injury and occupational illness. For a 68-year-old assembly line worker, continuing to work isn’t about personal fulfillment; it’s about survival. The body ages regardless of financial necessity, and the intersection of aging and prolonged physical work creates real health consequences that manifest later in life.
Why Early Retirement Planning Is Critical for Financial Security
The contrast between workers who saved early and those who didn’t is stark. A worker who started saving at age 25 in a tax-advantaged account, even with modest contributions, would accumulate considerably more wealth than someone who started saving in their 50s. Someone who contributed $200 monthly from age 25 to 65 would accumulate far more than someone trying to catch up with $1,000 monthly contributions from age 50 to 65. The power of compound interest heavily favors the early starter, yet the system doesn’t provide adequate education or incentives for young workers to understand this trade-off.
The practical implication is that anyone currently in their 40s or 50s needs to prioritize aggressive retirement savings immediately. This might mean cutting discretionary spending, increasing income through side work, or taking advantage of catch-up contribution provisions that allow workers over 50 to save additional amounts in 401(k) and IRA accounts. A 50-year-old with only $50,000 in savings still has a window to reach age 70 with something closer to a livable retirement, but only if they save aggressively for the next 15 to 20 years. The downside is real: this means delayed gratification during what are often peak earning years, years when people want to travel, help children, or simply enjoy the fruits of their labor.
The Hidden Costs of Working Longer: Age Discrimination and Job Market Challenges
Age discrimination in hiring is both a cause and a consequence of older workers’ extended careers. When a 62-year-old loses a job, the job search becomes exponentially harder. Recruiters may view older candidates as less adaptable, less tech-savvy, or more expensive (due to higher salary expectations from years of experience). Many employers, whether consciously or unconsciously, favor younger workers who they perceive as having more years of productive employment ahead. The warning here is critical: if you’re over 55 and employed, holding onto your current position becomes far more valuable than it would be if you were younger.
Losing that job in your 60s could derail retirement plans entirely. The psychological and physical health consequences of extended work also deserve attention. Research consistently shows that retirement satisfaction correlates with the ability to make a voluntary choice about timing. Workers who are forced to continue working due to financial pressure report higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress-related illness. A 67-year-old who desperately wants to retire but can’t afford to experiences this as a loss of autonomy and control. Additionally, the continued physical demands of work, combined with aging, mean that workers often experience declining health in their final working years—potentially leading to higher healthcare costs that further deplete savings and resources.
The “Unretirement” Trend: When Retirees Return to Work
A growing phenomenon shows just how precarious retirement is for many Americans: unretirement. According to AARP’s February 2026 data, 7% of retirees have returned to the workforce in the past six months, and 48% of those who unretired cite needing money or poor economic outlook as their primary reason. These are people who had already left the workforce, presumably having made the decision that they had enough to retire, only to discover their savings were insufficient or didn’t account for inflation and rising costs. A 71-year-old who retired at 67 only to return to part-time work two years later now has the physical demands of a new job combined with the wear and tear of aging.
The unretirement rate suggests that even people who managed to leave the workforce sometimes can’t stay out, indicating a deeper insecurity in how retirement is being financed. Further, 61% of older Americans keep working part-time as a way to supplement their savings, even among those who are technically retired. This isn’t retirement in the traditional sense—it’s a hybrid state where people are simultaneously dependent on employment income and trying to enjoy a reduced work schedule. The limitation of this approach is that part-time work often provides no benefits, particularly no health insurance, leaving these “retired” workers vulnerable to medical expenses that could devastate their finances.
Looking Ahead: What Changes Are Needed for Secure Retirement?
The current trajectory is unsustainable. If 40% of workers in their late 50s have no retirement savings and 39% expect to work until 70 or never retire, the system is failing millions of people. Potential solutions include policy changes like raising Social Security benefits for lower-income workers, requiring automatic enrollment in retirement accounts with higher default contribution rates, simplifying retirement account access for self-employed and gig economy workers, and strengthening protections against age discrimination in hiring.
However, policy changes take time, and current workers in their 50s and 60s need solutions now. The forward-looking reality is that the next generation of retirees will likely face similar pressures unless dramatic changes occur. Without significant policy intervention, increased employer contributions to retirement plans, or widespread financial literacy improvements, the trend of working past 70 will only intensify. The question facing policymakers, employers, and workers themselves is whether society wants to accept mass extended employment as the new normal, or whether it’s willing to invest in changes that would actually allow workers to retire with dignity.
Conclusion
The statistic that at least 29% of workers over 55 plan to work past 70 because they cannot afford to retire reflects a fundamental breakdown in retirement security. The actual numbers are higher—58% planning to work five more years, 39% expecting to work until 70 or beyond, and 41% of households in their late 50s with zero retirement savings. These aren’t outliers or unlucky workers; they represent the mainstream experience of millions of Americans who played by the rules, worked for decades, and still face the prospect of never fully retiring. The causes are structural: stagnant wages relative to living costs, the shift from pensions to self-directed retirement accounts without adequate support or education, and insufficient Social Security benefits for those with modest earnings histories.
The path forward requires both individual action and systemic change. For those currently in their 40s and 50s, aggressive savings now is critical—every year of delay makes the problem harder to solve. For policymakers and employers, the current trajectory toward mass extended employment is unsustainable and unfair. Workers deserve the opportunity to retire with dignity after a lifetime of contribution. The next decade will determine whether that opportunity becomes reality or whether extended work until age 70 or beyond becomes the standard burden of the American workforce.
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