{"id":4265,"date":"2024-02-29T10:43:26","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T15:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=4265"},"modified":"2024-02-29T10:43:26","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T15:43:26","slug":"a-record-number-of-americans-are-turning-65-this-year-and-redefining-the-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/02\/a-record-number-of-americans-are-turning-65-this-year-and-redefining-the-milestone.html","title":{"rendered":"A Record Number of Americans Are Turning 65 This Year and Redefining the Milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More Americans are turning 65 this year than at any prior time in history. Today\u2019s 65-year-olds are reshaping a milestone long associated with retirement parties and the end of productive years. They\u2019re wealthier and, by many measures, healthier and expected to live another 20 years. A growing amount are divorced, and many turn their focus on what they want in this next stage.<\/p>\n

Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave, a California-based consulting firm specializing in aging-related issues, said, \u201cBeing 65 is not just thinking about who you were, but what you might become in a new chapter.\u201d He says our parents and grandparents weren\u2019t typically thinking of new ventures and possibilities at 65 because they were winding down. About 4.1 million Americans will reach 65 years old this year, hitting a surge that will continue through 2027, according to an analysis by Jason Fichtner, executive director of the Retirement Income Institute and chief economist at the Bipartisan Policy Center.<\/p>\n

He says that\u2019s about 11,200 a day, compared with the 10,000 daily average from the previous decade. Robin Darrow, vice president of sales and marketing at Scentrifugal Events, turns 65 in a few months but has no plans to retire because she loves her job and also can\u2019t afford to retire. Darrow, who lives in the Philadelphia area, helped found the company in 2016, which offers \u201ccreate your own fragrance\u201d events at celebrations and meetings. She says, \u201cI\u2019m not winding down; I\u2019m just starting.\u201d According to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, nearly 20 percent of Americans 65 and older were employed in 2023, which is nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore are working and tending to work more hours,\u201d says Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew, who conducted the study. Close to two-thirds of 65 and older employees are working full time, compared with nearly half in 1987, he says. They\u2019re earning more, too, with average hourly pay reaching $22 an hour in 2023, up from $13 an hour in inflation-adjusted dollars in 1987, according to the Pew report.<\/p>\n