Most People Retire Earlier Than Planned — Here Are the Top Reasons

Retirement is often imagined as a date people choose carefully after years of saving, planning, and picturing the right moment to stop working. But for many retirees, the actual exit comes sooner than expected and for reasons they did not fully control.

Recent retirement research makes that gap clear. The 2026 EBRI/Greenwald Retirement Confidence Survey found that nearly half of retirees retired earlier than planned, and three in four early retirees said the reason was something outside their control. Health problems, disability, company changes, and job loss remain some of the biggest forces behind that early shift.