The Average Retirement Age in 2024: US vs. Mexico
Written by
Mary Green
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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It’s natural to feel a little bit anxious when planning for retirement. After all, many Americans are wondering whether they can rely on Social Security and other benefits for the elderly. As the country gears up for a presidential election, Americans of all ages, both those working and retired, are eager to hear from the candidates about their plans to keep the Social Security administration fully funded and operational.
Of course, Americans aren’t the only people concerned with retirement. Around the world, especially in countries with aging populations, governments are weighing new approaches to pension plans and other benefits. The European Union, for example, is considering a major overhaul of its retirement system.
America’s southern neighbor also has recently made changes to its retirement system. Here’s a look at how the average retirement age and benefits in the U.S. compare with those in Mexico.
Also see how America compares to Spain.
Retirement in the US
In the United States, the average retirement age is 62, according to a recent MassMutual survey. Of course, there are plenty of other factors that impact retirement decisions, including income, savings and the ability or desire to keep working.Â
By and large, college-educated Americans tend to retire later than the average age. This may be because they are in better health or work less physically taxing jobs, although it’s hard to be sure what drives each individual’s decisions.
Americans are entitled to collect Social Security payments once they reach 62. However, retirees who claim Social Security at that age won’t get as much money every month as people who wait a few more years to retire.
The Social Security Administration doesn’t issue your full benefits until you reach a certain age, known as the full retirement age. For Americans born in 1954 or earlier, retirement age is 66. An individual born in 1954, for example, could start drawing their maximum Social Security payments in 2020.
However, Americans born after 1954 had to wait a little longer before they were officially at full retirement age. If you were born in 1960 or later, you won’t reach retirement age until you turn 67. For someone born in 1960, maximum Social Security benefits are available in 2027.
Retirement in Mexico
The retirement system in Mexico has recently been through a shakeup. Until 2019, retirement benefits were based on the contributions each individual made during their working life. In some ways, this system was comparable to the Social Security program in the United States.
In Mexico, though, the earning-based retirement pension was problematic because many Mexican citizens work in the informal sector, where they don’t contribute to the privately managed retirement pension. This left many people without any earnings-related retirement benefits at all.
In 2019, the Mexican government reformed its pension system so that every citizen 65 years and older received a minimum bi-monthly payment. That payment was 2550 pesos every two months in 2019 ($130 in 2024 U.S. dollars). The figure jumped to 4800 pesos ($244) in 2023.
This year, Mexican lawmakers passed new legislation that gives retirees pension amounts equal to their final salaries. Retirees 65 or older whose monthly pensions are less than their final monthly salaries will receive monthly benefits that augment their pensions to match their final salaries, to a maximum of 16,778 pesos ($855) in 2024.Â
These pension reforms may be impacting people’s retirement plans. Before the 2019 reforms, men in Mexico retired at the age of 67 on average. The average Mexican woman retired at age 64. In 2020, though, both men and women left the workforce an average of one year earlier.
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