{"id":626485,"date":"2026-05-06T08:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T08:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/626485\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T08:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T08:22:12","slug":"why-planning-to-work-longer-wont-fix-the-retirement-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/626485\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Planning to Work Longer Won\u2019t Fix the Retirement Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Americans are increasingly counting on working longer to make up for retirement<\/a> shortfalls. But new data suggests that strategy may be less reliable than it seems.<\/p>\n

Confidence in retirement<\/a> is slipping, with just 61% of workers reporting they feel confident they\u2019ll have enough money to live comfortably later in life, according to the latest Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) survey<\/a>. That’s down from 67% a year ago and the lowest level in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

To close the gap, many workers are planning to delay retirement<\/a> or keep working. The problem? That plan doesn\u2019t always hold up. According to the survey, nearly half of people who retired in 2025 \u2014 46% \u2014 say they left the workforce earlier than expected, underscoring how unpredictable the end of a career can be.<\/p>\n

Rising costs<\/a>, mounting debt and uncertainty about the future of Social Security and Medicare<\/a> are only adding to the pressure, leaving many employees with a plan to work longer, but no clear backup if they can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Why working longer isn\u2019t really a plan<\/p>\n

The disconnect between expectation and reality is something financial experts say workers often underestimate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem is that people treat working longer like it\u2019s a plan when it\u2019s really just an assumption,\u201d Pam Krueger, founder and chief executive officer at Wealthramp, tells Money. \u201cAnd it\u2019s an assumption that depends on a lot of things going right.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many workers, the end of a career isn\u2019t something they control. Health setbacks, layoffs or caregiving responsibilities can abruptly change even the best-laid plans, and in 2025, factors like these were behind the vast majority of early retirements, according to EBRI.<\/p>\n

That risk shows up in the labor market, too. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that older workers who lose jobs are significantly less likely to get rehired, with reemployment rates dropping sharply after age 55.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real risk isn\u2019t just that you stop working early. It\u2019s that you built your entire plan around something you can’t fully control,\u201d says Krueger. \u201cReally ask: Is this what I really want to aim for as my Plan A?\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, working longer isn’t a retirement strategy; it\u2019s a gamble. And it\u2019s one that calls for a real Plan B.<\/p>\n

What a realistic backup plan looks like<\/p>\n

A true backup plan, financial experts say, isn\u2019t about picking a single alternative but building flexibility into how retirement actually works.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good Plan B isn\u2019t one big solution. It\u2019s in the layers,\u201d Krueger says. That starts with understanding real spending needs, not estimates, and identifying where budgets could realistically be adjusted if retirement comes earlier than expected.<\/p>\n

From there, it\u2019s about building multiple sources of income \u2014 including Social Security<\/a>, investment withdrawals and, for some, the option of part-time work.<\/p>\n

Some of the preparation also comes down to stress-testing assumptions: What happens if retirement comes earlier than expected, or if markets don\u2019t perform as planned in the early years? That kind of scenario planning can reveal gaps long before they become real-life problems.<\/p>\n

Still, building that kind of flexibility takes preparation, not just hoping things work out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really the goal: optionality,\u201d Krueger says. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be in a position where you\u2019re forced to keep working. You want to be able to choose it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She often encourages workers to think less in terms of a hard stop and more in terms of a gradual transition out of full-time work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of your plan as a dimmer switch instead of an on\/off switch,\u201d Krueger says. \u201cMaybe you ease into something lighter, more flexible and potentially interesting \u2014 but that only works if it\u2019s a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

As retirement gets closer, the focus shifts from building wealth<\/a> to protecting it, making sure a plan can hold up<\/a> if retirement comes earlier than expected or if markets underperform in the early years of retirement.<\/p>\n

Strengthening your financial footing also becomes more important. That can include reducing debt, managing withdrawals carefully and ensuring a portfolio can withstand volatility.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of this is exciting, but it\u2019s what gives you financial stability,\u201d says Krueger.<\/p>\n

For younger workers, the advantage is time \u2014 and the ability to build flexibility long before retirement becomes reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlanning for optionality instead of \u2018working forever\u2019 means you\u2019re not dependent on one job or even one type of job,\u201d Krueger says. \u201cYou\u2019re building flexibility into your future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Americans are increasingly counting on working longer to make up for retirement shortfalls. But new data suggests that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,3,147,530,1666],"class_list":["post-626485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-news","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-retirement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}