Retire when? Expectations and reality diverge in the US

investmentnews.com:

The concept of retirement is changing, and many people preparing for it are realizing that they can’t fully quit their working lives as soon as they’d like.

The reality is working longer or taking a gradual retirement, where part-time jobs help bridge financial gaps.

The average age at which people in the U.S. would like to retire is 59.4, although the average age they feel they will actually retire is 66.8, according to results of a survey recently published by life insurance settlement company Coventry Direct. Expectations differ across the country, with Nevada residents saying they like to retire youngest, at 57.7, and Connecticut residents pegging the oldest preferred retirement age among the states, at 63.6.

The state with the smallest gap between the age of preferred retirement (59.1) and expected retirement (63.2) was California, at over 4 years, according to the Coventry survey. The state with the biggest gap was Rhode Island, where people on average said they wanted to retire at 59.3 but expected to retire at 71.8, a difference of 12.5 years.

“Most people see retirement as a break from constant work stress, but they often don’t have detailed plans for their daily activities once they retire. They just know they want to be free from the daily grind,” Joseph Boughan, owner of Parkmount Financial Partners, said in an email.

About 1 in 5 clients usually needs to make considerable changes to meet the retirement goals they have in mind, Boughan said.

“In most cases when we recommend adjustments to get on track, we start the option to work part-time in an early ‘pre’ retirement to help them have less stress, and enjoy a partial retirement on more favorable terms,” he said. “But investments allocations, savings rates