How to Catch Up on Retirement Savings If 55 or 60 Feels Out of Reach
Last updated: September 13, 2026
A few years of runway is worth more than it feels like right now. Here’s how to catch up on retirement savings before the date you’re aiming for, and one lever most people never think about.
Direct Answer: If the number on the 55 or 60 hub page landed higher than what you’ve got saved right now, you’re not the exception, you’re the rule. The good news is the years right before retirement are the most valuable years you’ll ever have for catching up on retirement savings. Your savings are at their biggest, you’re still adding instead of withdrawing, and every year you wait shrinks the income bridge you’d need. There’s also a lever most people never think of: part-time work that comes with health benefits can close two gaps at once, the health insurance gap and the savings gap, without touching what you’ve already built.
Waiting has a cost, and it comes out of your retirement paycheck.
Many people wait until the year they retire to think about income. By then, they may have given up years of time that could have meant more guaranteed income from the money they allocate. The runway can be up to 15 years before you retire, and every year you wait can shorten it. Don’t find out at 65 what you could have had if you’d started sooner. Book a free 15-to-30-minute Retirement Income Blueprint Call and see where you stand today. First your life, then your money.
Can I ask you something?
If you ran the numbers on retiring at 55 or 60 and came up short, what’s the first thought that crossed your mind?
For most people, it’s some version of “I guess I can’t.” That’s the wrong conclusion, and it’s worth walking through why before you write off the whole idea.
Why the years right before retirement are the best time to catch up on retirement savings
Here’s what nobody tells you. The years right before the retirement age you’re aiming for are the most powerful years your money will ever have.
They are powerful because of what comes after them. J.P. Morgan gives a non-smoking 65-year-old man in excellent health a 64% chance of reaching 85 and a woman a 73% chance, and for a couple there is a 74% chance one of them reaches 90.1 Money you add now has to carry all of that, so it helps to see how long you are likely to be here.
Your savings are at their biggest they’ve ever been, so growth on that balance does the most work it’s ever going to do. You’re still earning, so every dollar that comes in is adding to what you’ve built instead of coming out of it. And every year you haven’t started the income bridge yet is a year that income bridge gets shorter and cheaper to build, since a shorter gap between retirement and Social Security takes less to fund.
That’s not a consolation prize for missing the number. It’s a real plan with a date attached to it. The difference between “I can’t retire at 55” and “I can retire at 57 or 58 with room to breathe” usually comes down to a clear-eyed look at what you actually control: how much you protect, how the rest is positioned, and when each piece turns on.
Every year you wait can mean less income from the same money. See your runway today.
The lever most people never think about
If the health insurance gap is what scares you more than the savings gap, there’s a move that handles both at once.
Some employers offer health benefits to part-time staff working somewhere around 20 hours a week. Land one of those for a few years and you’ve solved two problems in one move. First, you’ve covered the pre-Medicare health insurance that worries almost everyone retiring before 65. Second, the paycheck from those hours means you’re leaning on your savings less, which shortens the income bridge even further, all without touching what you’ve built.
Which employers offer this changes over time, so a quick search for current part-time positions with health benefits will turn up what’s out there right now. It’s worth twenty minutes of looking.
What this actually buys you
Have you heard the saying that the best time to plant a tree was years ago, and the second-best time is today?
That’s the whole idea here. The best time to start positioning for 55 or 60 may have been a few years back. The next best time is now. A short runway used well beats a long one wasted, and the gap between “almost” and “yes” is usually smaller than a general page like this one can show you. It closes faster with an actual plan than it does by waiting and hoping.
Want to see where you actually stand? See Can I Retire at 55? or Can I Retire at 60? for the real savings targets behind these numbers.
Catching up gets easier when you know what you’ll actually spend, and real spending isn’t a flat line. Read The Retirement Spending Smile Nobody Told You About.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m a few years away from 55 or 60 and my number isn’t there yet. Is it hopeless?
No. A few years of runway is one of the most valuable things you can have. Your savings are at their largest, you’re still earning instead of withdrawing, and every year that passes shrinks the income bridge you’ll eventually need. Most people’s number starts out bigger than they expected. Knowing that now, while there’s still time to act on it, is the advantage.
How does working part-time help me retire earlier?
If the job includes health benefits, typically available around 20 hours a week at some employers, it can cover your pre-Medicare health insurance and reduce how much you’re drawing from your own savings at the same time. That shortens the runway you need without spending down what you’ve built.
Does waiting a couple more years really change the numbers that much?
Yes, more than most people expect. Every year you don’t start the income bridge is a year that income bridge gets shorter and less expensive to fund, since there are fewer years to cover before Social Security starts.
Saving for retirement isn’t the same as planning it.
A growing 401(k) can feel like a plan. It isn’t. It doesn’t tell you what your paycheck will be, how long it will last, or what happens if the market drops right before you retire. The sooner you know, the more options you may have, and some of those options can shrink with every year you wait. Find out in a free 15-to-30-minute Retirement Income Blueprint Call. First your life, then your money.
Experience: Since founding KJ Financial in 2010, Kurt H. Jackson has worked with retirees and pre-retirees across Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Florida who discovered that the retirement plan they had built around a fixed withdrawal rule was far more fragile than they realized. He has worked directly with clients coming out of the 2008 crash, and with clients who retired into the 2020 COVID drop and the inflation spike of 2021 to 2023, and he has seen firsthand what sequence of returns risk does to a withdrawal-only strategy versus a Lifestyle-First plan with a guaranteed income floor. Before founding KJ Financial, he spent 20 years as a Certified Mortgage Planner working with more than 1,000 clients on major financial commitments, giving him deep insight into how financial decisions compound over time.
Expertise: Kurt is a Retirement Lifestyle Architect and the creator of the Lifestyle-First Retirement Income Planning framework. He builds guaranteed lifetime income, which he calls Protected Lifetime Income (PLI), under both his clients’ essentials and their non-negotiables, the adventures, the experiences and the memories with those they care about. With that income floor in place, the rest of their money no longer has to pay the bills, which means it doesn’t have to be sold in a down market. He is Life and Health Insurance Licensed in MO, NE, KS, IA, and FL. His practice focuses exclusively on insurance-based, tax-optimized retirement income strategies. He does not manage investments or sell securities.
Authoritativeness: Kurt founded KJ Financial and operates MaxMyRetirementIncome.com as a dedicated educational resource for retirees. His work is grounded in peer-reviewed and independently published research, cited directly on each page. He applies that research to the practical income planning decisions retirees face every day in the states he serves.
Trustworthiness: KJ Financial is a compliance-first firm. All figures and research citations on this page are sourced from publicly available, independently published studies and are linked directly in the content. Kurt is paid by commission from the insurance company that issues the policy. Kurt H. Jackson is not a securities broker, registered investment advisor, or CPA. Guarantees rely on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.
Contact KJ Financial:
1014 E. 5th St., Maryville, MO 64468
Direct: 816.582.5532
Email: kurt@kjfinancialonline.com
Website: www.MaxMyRetirementIncome.com
All figures on this page are illustrative and hypothetical, as of 2026, and are subject to change. They are not a promise or guarantee of any specific result. Which employers offer part-time health benefits changes over time; verify current availability directly with employers. Nothing here is investment, tax, or legal advice. Kurt H. Jackson is Life and Health Insurance Licensed in MO, NE, KS, IA, and FL, and is not a securities broker, registered investment advisor, or CPA. Guaranteed income strategies involve real costs and require careful planning based on your individual circumstances.
Sources
- J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Guide to Retirement 2026, Life Expectancy Probabilities, slide 4. The chart headed “If you are age 65 today, the probability of living to a specific age or beyond”, read for a non-smoker in excellent health: a man has a 64% chance of reaching 85, a woman 73%, and at least one member of a couple has a 74% chance of reaching 90.
Every figure on this page was checked against its numbered source on August 30, 2026.