Retirement strategy now is nothing like it was 100 years ago, and for today’s college graduates the retirement outlook is even more uncertain. Gone are the days of relying on Social Security to provide for a comfortable retirement. For many of my baby boomer clients,…

Retirement strategy now is nothing like it was 100 years ago, and for today’s college graduates the retirement outlook is even more uncertain.

Gone are the days of relying on Social Security to provide for a comfortable retirement. For many of my baby boomer clients, Social Security provides a nice cushion for retirement savings but nowhere near what those clients need to survive.

With the life expectancy age ever increasing and the retirement age decreasing (or is it?), we have to fund our retirement years for longer than ever before.

Current average age of retirement

Statistically, we can look at the Social Security Administration’s guidelines for retirement. The full retirement age is currently 65 for most people (those born before 1937) and somewhere between 65 and 66 for those who reached retirement in the past 10 years. This is the age when folks can begin to collect their full Social Security benefits.

Does this mean that everyone automatically retires at age 65? Not at all.

It’s almost impossible to figure out the real average age of retirement because it varies by gender, by profession, and by personal circumstance.

Some people choose to retire in their 50s, either...