The answer, of
course, can depend on many factors including health, satisfaction or otherwise
with work, the availability of work, the size of a person's retirement savings,
and the outcome of discussions with spouses.
Interestingly,
an article in The Wall Street Journal this month headed - "He Wants to
Retire...But She Doesn't" - suggests that many spouses do not agree about when
their partners should leave the workforce.
Journalist
Kathleen Hughes quotes research
by a US investment fund manager which found that 62 per cent of couples
surveyed disagreed with the timing of their spouse's retirement.
The latest
issue of an ABS report, Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia,
shows that the average age at retirement of those who retired over the past
five years was 61. (The average retirement age for men in this group was almost
63 compared to 60 for women.)
Not
surprisingly, the ABS report shows that Australians are retiring at older ages
than in the past.
Of the 3.2
million retirees aged over 45 in 2010-11 when these
ABS figures were collected, the average age of retirement was 53. And of
the male retirees in this group: 27 per cent had retired at under 55; 53 per
cent between 55 and 64; and 20 per cent over 65.
The Wall Street
Journal article and the ABS report on retirement are valuable reminders that we should carefully plan for retirement well
ahead of any expected retirement date. And we should think of both the
financial and social aspects of retirement - including, of course, the views of
our spouses.
By Robin Bowerman
Smart Investing
Principal & Head of Retail, Vanguard Investments Australia
11th April 2012
22nd-April-2012 | 
