Does Working Past Age 62 Really Make A Difference?

Does working past age 62 really make a difference? By working longer, you can pay down debt, add more to savings and give existing investments another year of growth. Let's start with some numbers and a broader example than a single guy who lives dirt cheap. Suppose you are part of a two-earner household and you and your partner earn about $53,000 each, for a total income of $106,000. According to Fidelity Investments, we should have saved about 10 years of income by age 67 and eight years of income by age 60. [...] let's assume our average workers have nine years of income in their retirement accounts, or about $900,000. [...] let's look on the bright side and assume that their savings earn 6 percent and grow by $54,000. When they retire next year, they'll be able to withdraw an additional $2,960 from their retirement funds if we assume a 4 percent withdrawal rate. Add it all up, and an added year of work will increase their retirement income from $70,600 to about $76,360, a gain of $6,360, about 8 percent. [...] their benefit comes to $1.59 an hour, before income taxes. [...] you slice it, they have given up a year of retirement freedom for a relatively small increase in their income and security.