Are you counting the days to retirement? A new survey finds more than a third of Americans -- 35 percent -- have had to add hundreds of days to that countdown, delaying retirement to an older age.
You can blame part of it on the rising cost of living, says LSUNO professor Mark Rosa.
"People are still grappling with the inflation that started in 2022, and they're still behind, and they're still feeling like they're catching up, he said.
There are even some people have even had to swallow the penalties and take early withdrawals from their 401k accounts to cover expenses.
"And I've never seen as much of that in my whole life, expect through this past inflation cycle," said Rosa. "We enjoyed such a low inflation rate for so long, we have generations of people who never felt inflation before, of any consequential amount."
Fourteen percent of people in the survey said they don't expect their final day to come until after they turn 70. Rosa said it's a combination of inflation, retirement planning that didn't go quite right, and the security that comes from having steady work.
"There's a lot that comes with that: the steady check coming in, you're senior in your job by then, presumably, and you've got things kind of under control, and then, let's not forget the periphery of what's going on with the benefits," said Rosa.
