Reposted from Time.com
By Suze Orman
One of the most popular segments on my CNBC show was "How Am I Doing?" Viewers would call in and tell me everything about their finances and wait for me to judge whether their retirement plan made the grade. Typically the central question was if they could retire in their early 60s.
Let's just say I gave out a lot more D's and F's than A's.
If I resurrected "How Am I Doing?" today, I'd be handing out plenty of failing grades to anyone who thinks they will be able to retire before they turn 70.
Yes, you heard me right: 70 is the new retirement age—not a month or year before.
Don't "Oh, Suze" me just yet. Please hear me out.
Look, I totally get that if you are reading MONEY you're probably a diligent saver. But it's always dangerous to assume you're better off than you really are. You likely have plenty saved up to breeze through 15 years or so of retirement. But, people, if you stop working in your 60s, your retirement stash might need to support you for 30 years, not 15.
I want to be very clear: I am not talking about a small outlier subset of people who stand to live an unusually long life. Healthy people in their 60s today have about a 50% chance of living into their 90s. Can you honestly tell me you're 100% sure you will not run out of money if you start spending down your retirement funds in your 60s and end up living into your 90s?
I speak from experience. My mom lived to age 97. I hate to think about what her life would have been like if I wasn't able to make sure that her financial needs were taken care of. I am grateful I had the resources to provide that care. My question for you: Do you think your kids would be able to easily step in to help you if you ran out of money?
And then there's the cost of health care. You do realize that Medicare covers only about 70% of health care costs? Between Medicare premiums, supplemental coverage, drug coverage, and out-of-pocket expenses the typical retiree is on the hook for about 30% of health care costs.
And given the chaos in Washington, we don't know what our share of retirement health care costs will be in the future. (Yes, I said "we." I am 66 and enrolled in Medicare.)
The bottom line is that working longer is the key to a secure retirement. Every dollar you don't spend in your 60s is a dollar that can keep growing for your 70s and beyond.
So I want each and every one of you to make working until 70 (or later) your goal. For some of you, full-time work will be the best insurance to making sure your money outlasts you. But for many of you who've done a great job planning, part-time work may be all that you need.
Okay, so how can you reset your retirement to age 70?
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