Will you retire at the same time as your spouse?

You may think the vast majority of couples retire at the same time. However, the last time Statistics Canada reported on Canadians retiring together or not, only about 30% of couples retired together.¹ Also, an Ameriprise Financial survey conducted this year showed that a majority of American couples retire at different times.²

Here’s a look at why couples retire together or apart and how each choice comes with its own benefits and concerns.

Retiring together

Retiring at the same time just seems to be a natural choice—and for a great many couples, it is. It’s a time you dreamed of, now it’s a reality, and you have the pleasure of beginning this new chapter together. Also, you enjoy more of your retirement years in each other’s company.

However, a couple must be sure both spouses are genuinely agreeable. A spouse who still enjoys working and retires only for the sake of retiring together may feel regretful. Alternatively, if a spouse is older and postpones their retirement date just to synchronize the couple’s retirement, they may have fewer years of being active and energetic as a retiree.

Reasons for a staggered approach

Retiring at different times is often based on personal situations, but sometimes the choice is primarily for financial reasons.

Age gap. When a couple has a significant age gap, it’s quite common for the older spouse to retire first.

Health issues. One spouse may develop an illness, disability or medical condition that makes work a challenge or impossible, so they retire earlier than their partner.

Career satisfaction. Take the case of a couple where spouses are the same age or close in age, and they reach a traditional retirement age. One spouse is ready to leave the nine-to-five world behind and start the next chapter of their life. However, the other enjoys their role as a mentor in the workplace and finds their work stimulating and meaningful—they want to continue with their career.

Many people work past the traditional retirement age for a variety of reasons, including having friendships at work, wanting to keep busy, feeling that their identity is tied to their career or knowing they’re helping others. Interestingly, about one in six physicians in Canada is 65 or older.³

Financial need or incentive. One spouse may be in a better position than the other to work longer to meet the couple’s retirement savings objective. Also, with the continued income, the retired spouse may be able to delay collecting government benefits and possibly delay withdrawals from retirement savings.

A couple may have planned to retire together, but one spouse’s employer offers an early retirement package that the spouse accepts.

A staggered retirement may come with challenges. In some cases, the working spouse may feel envious of their partner’s life of leisure. Or the retired spouse may feel held back from travelling or moving.

Making your decision

It’s important to be open with your spouse when planning your retirement dates to be sure both of you will embrace your choice and not have regrets. When the decision between a synchronized or staggered retirement involves your financial life, as it often does, please ask for our help. We can provide financial projections to show you how various scenarios affect your savings and retirement income.

When plans change

A couple may establish a plan for their retirement dates, but an event or situation arises that calls for a change from a synchronized retirement to a staggered retirement, or vice versa.

Say that a couple, Lisa and Eddie, planned to retire together in three years. However, Lisa’s mother suffers a stroke and needs help to live on her own. Lisa wants to leave her job to care for her mother, and the couple meets with their advisor to see how this arrangement would affect their retirement plans. Together, they determine that if Lisa retires now and Eddie works for five years, the couple will still meet their retirement savings objective.

Another couple, Calvin and Shanaya, originally planned to retire at different times. Shanaya is five years older and the idea was that each spouse would retire at age 65. When Shanaya is a year away from retirement, Calvin receives a considerable inheritance, which allows Calvin to retire when he reaches age 60—at the same time as Shanaya.

 

¹ Statistics Canada, “Retiring Together, or Not,” Perspectives on Labour and Income, 2008.
² Ameriprise Financial, “Couples, Money and Retirement,” 2024.
³ Canadian Institute for Health Information, “Supply, Distribution and Migration of Physicians in Canada, 2022,” 2023.