Americans Agree There’s a ‘Perfect’ Age To Retire—but Homeowners May Find It Completely Unrealistic

While the American government has its retirement guidelines, the people have agreed that a perfect age to retire does exist—and it’s not 67.

According to the 2024 MassMutual Retirement Happiness Study, most American retirees and pre-retirees consider 63 to be the perfect age to leave the grind behind. With the current average life expectancy of Americans standing at 78, according to the CDC, that would leave more than a decade for retirees to enjoy the fruits of their labor. 

But if you own a home, leaving the workforce behind before the official retirement age might sound nice; but in reality, it might leave you strapped for cash or worse, forced to move.

Still, there are some money moves you can make right now to ensure you can keep your home and enjoy your retirement at any age you choose. 

Retiring in America, just the facts

In the U.S., the earliest age you can retire and still collect Social Security is 62 years old. However, the full retirement age is 67, meaning if you retire any time before that, your Social Security will be a fraction of the full amount. 

For instance, your Social Security benefits could be roughly 30% lower if you retire at 62 rather than the full retirement age (FRA) of 67, according to the Social Security Administration.

On the other hand, if you wait until you're 70 to start collecting Social Security, you’ll earn delayed retirement credits, boosting your benefit by 8% per year, until age 70. This can increase your payout to 124% of your FRA benefit 

Nearly 22 million seniors are estimated to live on Social Security alone, according to a June 2025 study from The Senior Citizens League—and a good chunk of them are homeowners. 

Baby boomers own lion's share of real estate, but can they keep it?

Baby boomers are sitting on a staggering amount of housing wealth, accounting for nearly half of America’s real estate wealth. In total, they own an estimated $18 trillion to $19 trillion worth of real estate. 

At the same time, the median age of homebuyers is also higher than ever. For first-time homebuyers, the age is 40, while the average buyer is 58, according to the National Association of Realtors®' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. While all-cash buyers are on the rise, that still leaves a decent amount of homeowners who will be locked into a 30-year mortgage well into their retirement years. 

In fact, baby boomers, between the ages of 60 and 78, are the largest share of both homebuyers and sellers, according to the NAR 2025 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report. 

For those who have paid off their mortgage and have retired, Social Security benefits certainly stretch further, but not enough to cover all of additional housing expenses outside of paying a mortgage.

In fact, Social Security alone is enough to cover the living expenses in only 10 states, according to the Realtor.com® analysis of median Social Security benefits by state and the Elder Economic Security Standard Index—and that’s taking into account taking benefits at FRA. 

A recent AARP survey found that 75% of adults 50 and older said they wish to remain in their current homes as they age, while 73% hope to stay in their communities.

If that’s the case, having a diversified set of assets may be the only way to ensure older homeowners can age in place. But that takes proper planning in their younger years. 

How to afford homeownership in retirement 

It’s no secret that rising housing costs—including property taxes, insurance, and utility bills—are making homeownership more expensive than ever.

As a result, many seniors are choosing to “unretire” in order to stay in their homes, and many pre-retirees are considering working longer. In fact, 70% of workers who have not yet retired have considered pushing back their retirement date—a trend that has increased over the past few years, according to an F&G survey.

Jason Sorens, senior research economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, explains to Realtor.com that one of the biggest drivers of seniors needing to return to work is simply not having saved enough, adding that a little over half of retirees are living on $30,000 a year or less, according to the Richmond Fed. 

With that said, the best way to ensure you can keep your home into retirement is to strategically save as much as possible—especially if you plan on retiring early. The first step is realistically determining how much money you’ll need.

Using a retirement calculator, consider planning for a best-case scenario: living 25 to 30 years past your retirement age. You’ll need to calculate the financial gap created by claiming Social Security early, since retiring between ages 63 and 67 means reduced monthly benefits. It’s also a good idea to review your mortgage payoff timeline.

If you follow the 4% rule, divide your expected annual retirement spending by the safe withdrawal rate to estimate the size of the nest egg you’ll need. For example, if you expect to need $65,000 per year to cover your mortgage, property taxes, insurance, utilities, food, transportation, healthcare, and discretionary expenses like travel and home improvements, then you would need a nest egg of about $1.625 million to maintain homeownership comfortably.

Finally, talk to your financial planner about the best way to keep your savings growing to stay ahead of inflation. You’ll likely need to invest in a portfolio that earns at least 4% annually to keep pace with rising costs.