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Suze Orman has a simple fix for a shaky retirement plan: Don’t retire yet.
On her Women & Money podcast, she gave a 43-year-old caller who planned to quit at 58 an “F.” Her advice: “Your way to an A is just stay working, girlfriend.” Working to 67, Orman said, would leave the caller “about $1 million more” than retiring at 58. (1)
Clark Howard has a warning that cuts the other way. On his Sept. 4 podcast, he said the “average corporate type ends up being jettisoned at an average age of 57 and they’re not ready for retirement.” (2)
The numbers back Howard up. In the 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey, 46% of retirees said they retired earlier than planned. The most common reason was a health problem or disability, cited by 41%. Changes at their company came in at 35%. (3)
Workers expect to retire at 65, the median in the same survey. Retirees actually left at a median age of 62. (3)
I’ve been a CPA since 1981, and I’ve watched this three-year gap wreck more retirement plans than any stock market crash. So who’s right, Suze or Clark? Both of them, and that’s exactly the problem. Here’s my verdict, and six moves that protect you either way.
1. Suze is right about the math
Let’s give Orman her due. Every extra year you work does three things at once.
You add another year of savings. You give your investments another year to grow before you touch them. And you shrink the number of years your money has to last.
Then there’s Social Security.
If you were born in 1960 or later, claiming at 62 cuts your benefit by 30% for life compared with waiting until your full retirement age of 67. (4) Wait past 67, and you earn an 8% raise for each year you delay, up to age 70. (5)
Stack those together, and a seven- or nine-year difference really can be worth a fortune.
2. Clark is right about the risk
Here’s the catch. “I’ll just work longer” is a plan that depends on someone else: your boss, your body or both.
A ProPublica and Urban Institute analysis found that 56% of older workers who’d been in stable, long-term jobs were laid off at least once or left under financially damaging circumstances that suggested they were pushed out. (6)
That study used data through 2016, but the EBRI numbers above show the pattern hasn’t gone away.
Even Orman has written that working until 65 or beyond “cannot be your only plan.” (7)
So my verdict: Plan like Suze, but prepare like Clark. Aim to work longer, and build a plan that still works if you can’t.
3. Run your numbers as if you’ll stop at 62
Most people run one retirement projection, at the age they hope to quit. Run a second one at 62.
If that second plan fails, you’ve found your real problem while you still have time to fix it. Maybe you need to save more now, pay off the mortgage sooner or get serious about cutting fixed costs.
This is where a professional earns the fee. A good planner can model both scenarios and show you what changes the outcome most.
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4. Build a bridge fund, not just a retirement fund
If you’re pushed out at 57 or 60, the hardest years aren’t your 70s. They’re the ones before Social Security and Medicare kick in.
That’s why I’d keep a separate “bridge” account: cash and short-term savings earmarked to cover your living costs for a year or two after an unexpected job loss.
A bridge fund does something important. It keeps you from claiming Social Security early out of panic and locking in that 30% cut for good.
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5. Line up plan B work before you need it
Losing a corporate job at 57 doesn’t have to mean you stop earning. It might mean earning differently: consulting, part-time work, or a remote job in the field you already know.
The time to figure out what that looks like is while you’re still employed, not the week after HR calls you in.
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Even a part-time paycheck in your early 60s can let you delay Social Security and keep your savings invested longer.
6. Shrink your fixed costs now
The less it costs to run your life, the less it matters when you stop working, whether you pick the date or someone picks it for you.
Look hard at every bill that shows up month after month: insurance, subscriptions, cable and your phone.
Big carriers spend billions on ads, and your bill pays for it. The same calls, texts and 5G coverage cost a fraction with Tello Mobile on T-Mobile’s network — see plans from $10 a month. Switching takes minutes, you keep your number, and there’s no contract.
Small cuts like that add up. Trim $300 a month from your fixed costs, and that’s $3,600 a year your savings no longer have to cover.
The bottom line
Suze Orman is right that working longer is one of the most powerful retirement moves there is. Clark Howard is right that you may not get to choose.
So don’t bet your retirement on your boss’s plans. Save as if you’ll stop at 62, work as long as you want to, and treat every extra year as a bonus rather than the foundation.
The best retirement plan isn’t the one that works if everything goes right. It’s the one that still works when something doesn’t.
Sources: 1. Moneywise (via Yahoo Finance); 2. 24/7 Wall St.; 3. Employee Benefit Research Institute; 4. Social Security Administration; 5. Social Security Administration; 6. ProPublica; 7. Suze Orman
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