5/19/2015 – Good news on retirement trends (MarketWatch)

With lower Social Security replacement rates, vanishing traditional pensions, and longer lifespans, people need to work longer to ensure a secure retirement. Working longer directly increases current income; it avoids the actuarial reduction in Social Security benefits; it allows people to contribute more to their 401(k) plans; and it shortens the period of retirement.

The good news is that people have begun to respond. In a recent study, using unpublished data from the Social Security Administration (SSA), we found that of eligible workers turning age 62, the share claiming benefits at that age fell from 56.0 percent in 1996 to 35.6 percent in 2013 for men; the comparable decline for women was 62.8 percent to 39.5 percent.

Read the full article at MarketWatch.