QUIZ: Are You Ready To Retire at 62?

Find out if you're ready to retire before your Full Retirement Age (FRA) with our quick quiz. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.You are now subscribedYour newsletter sign-up was successfulWant to add more newsletters?Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.Get practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.Get today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.Financial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.Trim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.Your twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirementInsights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.Your twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.Your step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.Retiring at 62 is the dream of many Americans, marking the earliest chance to start collecting Social Security benefits. While there’s a three-year gap before Medicare eligibility begins, the trade-off is often worth it: many find themselves healthy enough to truly enjoy their newfound freedom and check off those long-awaited bucket list items.The average retirement age in America is 62, according to a MassMutual survey. Whether that transition is a choice or a necessity — driven by layoffs, health issues, or caregiving responsibilities — one reality remains: retiring at 62 requires a substantial nest egg to go the distance.How much? $1.26 million, according to a 2025 study by Northwestern Mutual. That could be less or more depending on your current lifestyle and how you plan to live once you retire.Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special IssuesProfit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.But retiring at 62 isn't only about dollars and cents. You also have to be emotionally ready to exit the workforce. You'll have a lot of free time on your hands, and without an idea of what you want to do with that newfound freedom, retirement can be downright depressing.Still feeling undeterred about retiring at 62? Take our quiz and see if you are ready to join the majority of Americans who traded the commute for the golf clubs once they reached this age.Building a dream retirement shouldn’t feel like a second job. Subscribe to our free newsletter, Retirement Tips.Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.Donna Fuscaldo is the retirement writer at Kiplinger.com. A writer and editor focused on retirement savings, planning, travel and lifestyle, Donna brings over two decades of experience working with publications including AARP, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investopedia and HerMoney. Ask the Editor In this week's Ask the Editor Q&A, Joy Taylor answers questions on tax breaks for caregivers Avoiding these common mistakes can help you build a foundation of wealth while not leaving thousands of dollars on the table. Having gone through a divorce myself, I know it can bring financial and emotional peace in the long run. Having gone through a divorce myself, I know it can bring financial and emotional peace in the long run. Learn why a divorce decree isn’t enough to protect your retirement assets. You need a QDRO to divide the accounts to avoid paying penalties or income tax. Estate plans aren't as effective as they can be if tax plans are considered separately. Here's what you stand to gain when the two strategies are aligned. The keys to successful real estate planning for retirees: Stop thinking of property income as a reliable paycheck, start planning for tax consequences and structure your assets early to maintain flexibility. February gets a bad rap for being the month when resolutions fade — in fact, it's the perfect time to reset and focus on small changes that actually pay off. Quiz Test your basic knowledge of the "Medigap Trap" in our quick quiz. We are 62 and finally retired after decades of hard work. I see the lakehouse as an investment in our happiness.

Your Social Security break-even age tells you how long you'd need to live for delaying to pay off, but shouldn't be the sole basis for deciding when to claim.