Rising Costs of Living Force Baby Boomers To Rethink Retirement

As many Baby Boomers approach retirement, they also face rising living costs, housing prices, and health care, which is encouraging many to delay retirement or reenter the workforce.

Roughly 60% of Baby Boomers, or those born between 1946 and 1964, will be able to receive their full retirement age (FRA) Social Security benefits by the end of the year. Yet, only 10% of this generation are fully retired, according to a recent survey by Indeed Flex, an online job portal for temporary work.

In addition, almost half of Baby Boomers said they plan to keep working in 2025, and 35% were unsure if they will retire this year due to the high cost of living.

Consumer prices continue to rise for all Americans, but especially those nearing retirement age. In January 2025, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for those aged 62 years and older increased by 3.1% compared to a year prior and was 9.3% higher than the CPI for all Americans.

Some advocates have criticized Social Security’s annual Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for not keeping up with the inflation, and experts have said the lag has reduced retirees’ buying power. Additionally, Social Security is running out of money and may eventually be unable to provide retirees with full benefits.

“As the aging population heads into retirement age, many do not have enough money saved to live financially secure,” said Novo Constare, CEO and co-founder of Indeed Flex, in a press release. “Previous generations could rely on pensions and affordable living; today’s boomers are navigating a financial landscape where Social Security alone isn’t enough to meet their current needs.”

To bridge the gap between their retirement income and high costs of living, almost one in four retirees consider unretiring and working a temporary job for extra money, vacations, gifts, or socialization, Indeed Flex found.