Login | September 06, 2025
Retirement ahead? Plan now
JULIE JASON
The Discerning Investor
Published: September 4, 2025
Are you over 50 years old and thinking about your upcoming retirement?
You might not be as ready for it as you think, according to a new survey by F&G Annuities and Life Inc. Among workers who are over the age of 50, not yet retired and have $100,000 or more in financial products or savings, 70% of respondents said they were considering pushing back their retirement date (tinyurl.com/58uu77nn).
The third annual Retirement Reconsidered survey, which polled 2,000 U.S. adults in May 2025, indicated that 23% of pre-retirees said they were definitely pushing back their retirement date. The reasons included being worried that they wouldn't have enough money for retirement (cited by 48%) and inflation (44%).
Inflated costs were reflected in another recently released retirement-based study, this one involving health care.
A 65-year-old person retiring in 2025 can expect to spend an average of $172,500 in health care and medical expenses throughout retirement, according to a finding in the 24th annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate by Fidelity Investments (tinyurl.com/43p97pna). Contrast that with Fidelity's inaugural $80,000 estimate (2002) -- it's an increase of 115.6% during that time span.
It's no wonder the F&G survey indicated that half of its respondents cited financial uncertainties and/or economic volatility as the reason they were considering "unretiring" or pushing back their retirement.
That survey highlighted an additional area that comes into question in preparing for retirement -- the issue of personal fulfillment. Here is the question to consider: Do you have an understanding during your working years of what you will find to be personally fulfilling in retirement?
A 2020 white paper by the Empower Institute, which studies retirement strategies, indicated that 83% of pre-retirees expect to "live their best life" in retirement (tinyurl.com/mvxam893).
But expectations sometimes fall short of reality.
For example, while 77% of pre-retirees (15 years or fewer before retirement) said they anticipate they will feel happier on a typical day in retirement, fewer (67%) current retirees (15 years or less into retirement) said they are happier, according to a 2024 MassMutual Retirement Happiness Study (tinyurl.com/485r5fh3). That's still meaningful.
You never really know who will have a positive experience. However, studies do show that if people voluntarily retired, they expressed much higher levels of well-being compared to those who did not voluntarily retire (tinyurl.com/5daanw5j).
Of course, health is a major consideration. Health, financial stability and personal fulfillment are intertwined in retirement, perhaps more so than during working years. This is where planning can come into play before retirement.
For example, Fidelity's 2025 State of Retirement Planning report (tinyurl.com/mrxcyjcp) offers important tips from current retirees for those people who are five to 10 years from retirement. They include paying off your remaining debt (mortgage, credit cards), maximizing your contributions to retirement accounts, planning for health care costs and practicing living on a retirement budget.
And when it comes to personal fulfillment, keep this thought in mind: Harvard has had a longitudinal research study of adult development for more than 85 years, starting in 1938. One key finding: The strongest predictor of who was going to be happy and healthy as they grew old was good relationships (tinyurl.com/53zy57wd).
The workbook "Reframing Retirement," offered by wealth management firm Focus Partners, points out that "[r]etirement planning should encompass considerations for maintaining a sense of purpose and fulfillment." Subjects in the workbook include planning for your time in retirement, things you might lose or gain, what you might be curious about learning, and the importance of your social network (tinyurl.com/5n6swwr5).
There is a lot of homework to do when it comes to your future retirement. One important thing to keep in mind is that while the monetary aspect is certainly important, it shouldn't be the only consideration.
Seasoned investment counsel (tinyurl.com/52nus8hz) and award-winning columnist and author, Julie Jason, JD, LLM, promotes financial literacy and investor protection. Read her latest book, "The Discerning Investor: Personal Portfolio Management in Retirement for Lawyers (and Their Clients)" (tinyurl.com/4u7h9pjs), published by the American Bar Association. Write to Julie at readers@juliejason.com. While all questions cannot be answered, each email is read and reviewed and can lead to discussion in a future column.
COPYRIGHT 2025 Julie Jason, DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106; 816-581-7500.