The average retirement age in the U.S. is 62, according to the 2024 MassMutual Retirement Happiness Study. (1) That’s not a coincidence, but a side effect of bureaucracy. Sixty-two happens to be the earliest age a person is eligible to claim Social Security benefits. Delaying retirement would maximize the size of these benefit checks, although it seems most Americans are keen to quit work as soon as they qualify to receive their first payout. Most of the time, people are urged to hold off for as long a ...