For generations, age 65 was treated almost like an expiration date for your working life. You reached 65, collected your gold watch, signed up for Social Security, and headed into retirement.

That timeline no longer fits everyone. Americans are living longer, and many are remaining active well beyond traditional retirement age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. life expectancy at age 65 was 19.7 additional years in 2024. For women, it was 20.8 years. That is an average, which means many people will live considerably longer.

That creates an important financial planning question: What if your retirement savings need to support you for 25 or even 30 years?

Turning 65 can be a good time to reconsider decisions that may have been based on an older idea of retirement. Rather than automatically treating 65 as the year you stop working, consider using it as an opportunity to strengthen your financial position for the decades ahead. 

1. Plan as Though 90 Is Possible

Retirement planning based solely on average life expectancy can create a problem: you are an individual, not an average. A person who reaches 65 today may potentially spend two, three, or more decades in retirement. That makes longevity risk, the possibility of outliving your financial resources, an important part of planning.

Consider asking your financial professional to model several scenarios. What happens if you live to 85? To 90? To 95? What happens if one spouse significantly outlives the other? The analysis might also consider varying rates of inflation, investment performance, health care expenses, spending patterns, and other assumptions.

Financial projections cannot predict how long you will live or how markets will perform. Their value is in helping you understand how your financial strategy might respond under different circumstances.

2. Ask Whether You Really Want to Stop Working Yet

Continuing to work does not have to mean staying in the same job, at the same pace, for another decade. You might work another year or two, move to part-time hours, consult, start a small business, or shift into work that gives you greater flexibility.

From a financial standpoint, even a relatively short extension of your working years may have several potential benefits. You may continue earning income, have additional time to contribute to retirement accounts, and reduce the number of years during which you are relying primarily on accumulated savings.

It may also give investments additional time to remain invested, although investment returns are never guaranteed. The important point is that your 65th birthday does not have to make the decision for you. Your health, finances, career satisfaction, family obligations, and personal goals should all be part of the conversation.

3. Make a Deliberate Social Security Decision

Turning 65 and claiming Social Security are two different decisions. For individuals born in 1960 or later, full retirement age for Social Security is 67, not 65. Benefits can generally be claimed earlier, but doing so reduces the monthly benefit compared with waiting until full retirement age. 

Conversely, delaying beyond full retirement age may increase the monthly benefit until age 70. For someone born in 1960 or later, the Social Security Administration indicates that waiting until age 70 can result in a monthly retirement benefit equal to 124 percent of the full-retirement-age amount.

That does not mean everyone should wait until 70. Health, life expectancy, employment, marital status, other income, cash needs, and personal circumstances can all affect the decision. The goal is to evaluate the alternatives rather than automatically filing because you have reached a particular birthday.

4. Get Your Medicare Decision Right

There is one important government milestone that still occurs around age 65: Medicare. For many people, the Initial Enrollment Period is a seven-month window that begins three months before the month they turn 65 and ends three months afterward. Different rules may apply if you or your spouse continues to work and has qualifying employer-sponsored coverage.

Medicare decisions may also affect Health Savings Account contributions, employer coverage, supplemental insurance, prescription drug coverage, and future health care expenses. Do not assume that continuing to work means you can simply ignore Medicare at 65. Review your coverage and enrollment requirements before making a decision, because missing certain enrollment periods may result in coverage gaps or penalties.

5. Reduce the Expenses That Follow You into Retirement

One way to make retirement assets potentially last longer is straightforward: need less money from them. Age 65 can be a useful time to look closely at recurring expenses before employment income changes.

That might include evaluating high-interest debt, housing expenses, unused subscriptions, insurance costs, vehicle expenses, or other recurring obligations.

This does not necessarily mean paying off every debt immediately or eliminating everything you enjoy. For example, using a large portion of liquid savings to pay off a low-interest mortgage may not be appropriate in every situation. Instead, look for opportunities to enter your later years with greater flexibility and fewer expenses that must be paid every month regardless of market conditions.

6. Look for Tax Opportunities Before Required Distributions Begin

At 65, you may have money spread across traditional retirement accounts, Roth accounts, taxable investments, savings, and other assets. Those accounts do not all receive the same tax treatment.

For people turning 65 today, required minimum distributions from certain retirement accounts generally will not begin for several more years. Under current federal law, individuals who attain age 74 after December 31, 2032, generally have an applicable RMD age of 75.

That may create a planning period in which you and your advisers can evaluate issues such as withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts, Roth conversions, capital gains, charitable strategies, and other tax considerations.

However, these strategies can have consequences. Increasing taxable income, for example, could affect Medicare premiums and other tax calculations. Tax strategies should therefore be evaluated in coordination with qualified tax and financial professionals based on your individual situation.

7. Revisit How Your Money Is Invested, and What It Costs

Turning 65 does not necessarily mean moving your retirement savings into cash or eliminating investment risk. If your money may need to last another 20 or 30 years, maintaining some potential for long-term growth may continue to be important. At the same time, a significant market decline can have a greater impact when you are withdrawing money from a portfolio.

This can be a good time to review your overall asset allocation, liquidity needs, risk tolerance, income requirements, diversification, and investment expenses.

Pay attention to fees as well. Investment management expenses, fund expenses, account fees, and other ongoing costs can compound over a long retirement. There is no universally appropriate asset allocation. Investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal, and diversification does not guarantee against loss. Your investment strategy should reflect your particular goals, time horizon, risk tolerance, and financial circumstances.

Maybe 65 Isn't the Finish Line Anymore

A generation ago, planning for retirement at 65 often meant preparing for a considerably shorter period after work ended. Today's financial planning challenge can be very different. You may arrive at 65 healthy, active, professionally engaged, and looking ahead to decades of possibilities. That can be good news, but greater longevity also means your financial resources may need to work longer.

At Mirus Financial Partners, we believe 65 should be viewed as an opportunity to review where you are, what has changed, and what you want the coming decades to look like. That may include examining Social Security, Medicare, taxes, investments, spending, and how long you want to continue working.

The goal is not necessarily to retire as soon as you can. It is to give you greater flexibility to choose when and how you want to retire, while considering how your financial resources can support the years ahead. Contact us today to explore your options.

Important Disclosure: This material is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered individualized investment, tax, legal, Social Security, Medicare, or financial advice. The information presented is based on laws and program rules in effect at the time of publication and may change. Investment strategies involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Financial projections and longevity assumptions are estimates and actual results will vary. Individuals should consult appropriately qualified financial, tax, legal, and benefits professionals regarding their particular circumstances. 

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