爲何美國人不能按理想年齡退休

Working Americans expect to retire at age 66, up from 63 in 2002, according to a recent Gallup poll. But most retirees don't stay on the job nearly that long.

最近一項蓋洛普民意調查顯示，美國人退休年齡將從2002年的63歲增長至66歲，但大多數臨退休人員難以堅守崗位。

The average retirement age among retirees is 62, Gallup found. And even retirement at age 62 is a recent development. The average retirement age has hovered around 60 for most of the past decade.

調查發現，美國平均退休年齡爲62歲——這也是最近的趨勢。而過去十年裏，平均退休年齡一直在60歲徘徊。

"Americans have two reasons in which they may project a later retirement year. One is financial, and they simply think they will need to work longer because there are fewer pensions, and now people may have a more psychologically positive view of work," says Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of Gallup poll. But a plan to work longer isn't the same as keeping a job into your mid- or late 60s.

“美國人提倡延遲退休可能出於兩層考慮。一是財務問題，由於養老金減少，美國人覺得有必要延長工作年限；其次，現在人們的工作心理更加健康。”弗蘭克?紐波特評論道，他是蓋洛普民意測驗主編。但計劃延長工齡並不意味着能工作到古稀之年。

Other surveys have similarly found a significant gap between the age workers anticipate retiring and when they actually leave their jobs. A 2014 Employee Benefit Research Institute survey found that 33 percent of workers expect to retire after age 65, but only 16 percent of retirees report staying on the job that long. Just 9 percent of workers say they are planning to retire before age 60, but 35 percent of retirees say they retired that early. The median retirement age in the survey was 62.

其他調查也有類似發現：工人預計與實際退休年齡之間存在顯著差距。2014年僱員福利研究所（EBRI）調查發現，33%的工人表示65歲後才退休，但真正做到的只有16%。只有9%的員工表示計劃在60歲前退休，實際上該數據卻達到了35%。調查顯示平均退休年齡是62歲。

Many of these early retirements are unexpected and due to unforeseen circumstances. About half (49 percent) of retirees say they left the workforce earlier than planned, often to cope with a health problem or disability (61 percent) or to care for a spouse or other family member (18 percent), EBRI found. Other retirees are forced out of their jobs due to changes at their company, such as a downsizing or closure (18 percent), changes in the skills required for their job (7 percent) or other work-related reasons (22 percent).

提前退休往往出乎意料，爲不可預見的形勢所迫。EBRI發現，49%的員工表明，他們比原計劃提前退休，主要有以下原因：健康問題或殘疾（61%）；照顧配偶或其他家庭成員（18%）。其他退休人員被迫離職原因包括：公司發生變動，諸如裁員或倒閉（18%）；工作技能要求變化（7%）或其他與工作有關的因素（22%）。

"The difference is between what you know you want to do and what factors outside your control ultimately require you to do," says Dallas Salisbury, president of EBRI. "I will tell you I want to continue working on the assumption that I can keep my job or get a new job, and then my job goes away because the plant closes down or something like that. Or I am very healthy when you ask me that question, and then I suddenly get pushed down a flight of stairs and end up disabled and out of work and on permanent disability for the balance of my life. You end up leaving long before you anticipated."

“理想與現實終究是有差距的，人爲無法控制的外因能影響我們最終的決定。”EBRI總裁達拉斯?薩利斯伯瑞（Dallas Salisbury）說。 “假設我能夠保住現有飯碗或找到新工作，我會告訴你我想要繼續努力奮鬥下去，但突然有一天工廠倒閉我成了無業遊民。或者接受調查時我很健康，但突然某一天我從樓梯上摔下來，殘疾的同時也失去了工作和生活的平衡。結果你離職比自己預想的早得多。”

Of course, there are also some fortunate retirees who are able to retire early because they can afford it (26 percent) or want to do something else (19 percent), perhaps due to an inheritance, unexpected windfall or diligent saving.

當然，也有一些人幸運繼承、意外發財或勤於儲蓄，他們提前退休一是具備負擔能力（26%），或是想做些別的事情（19%）。

An unplanned retirement generally means you need to regroup and make the best of the resources you have. "When you're forced into it, the key thing is to be mentally flexible," says Michael Chadwick, a certified financial planner and CEO of Chadwick Financial Advisors in Unionville, Connecticut. "The trajectory you were on when all was well isn't likely to be the same trajectory you're going to achieve with these new circumstances." You'll need to look at your severance package and ability to collect unemployment if you are laid off. And if you're under 65 and can't sign up for Medicare, you'll need to make important decisions about your health insurance.

意外退休通常意味着需要重新組合、充分利用現有資源。“被迫退休時，思想靈活十分關鍵。”認證理財規劃師邁克爾?查德威克表示，他同時也是康涅狄格州尤寧維爾查德威克財務顧問公司總裁。他還說，“先前的軌跡與你今後的發展軌跡不一定一致，因爲形勢在變化。”如果不幸下崗，你就得仰仗遣散費和失業金。假如你低於65歲沒有醫保，你就得考慮健康保險。

An emergency fund is likely to be extremely helpful to people who find themselves retiring ahead of schedule. "You can have your ducks in a row by living below your means and saving well, so if something happens, you've got a cushion and are not desperate," Chadwick says. "Try not to live paycheck to paycheck, and only carry good debt, such as mortgage, tuition and low-rate car loans."

緊急基金能夠幫助那些提前退休者。“適度節儉儲蓄得當，生活就會井井有條。即便發生了什麼事，也能得到緩衝不致絕望，”查德威克說，“儘量不做月光族，只貸良性債務——如抵押貸款，上學貸款和低利率汽車貸款。”

While you may want to keep working during the traditional retirement years to finance a better lifestyle, there's a reasonable possibility that you might not get to choose when you retire, and this should be factored into your retirement preparations. "People would be much better off planning as if they will be unable to work in retirement," says Greg Burrows, senior vice president for retirement and investor services at Principal Financial Group, an underwriter of the EBRI survey. "If they get to retirement and can work, then they have that option, and that's a bonus opportunity."

儘管你可能想繼續工作到慣常退休年齡，然後有足夠資金安享晚年，但極有可能退休由不得你。你在做退休準備時也應該考慮到這種可能性。“人們應當做好不能工作到退休的規劃，這樣晚年就不用愁經濟狀況，”信安金融集團（EBRI調查包銷商）退休及投資者服務中心高級副總裁Greg Burrows表示，“如果人們臨近退休仍能正常工作，就有機會獲得額外報酬。”