What age do most people retire in America? Given many Americans are in somewhat of a precarious financial situation, with only about $17,000 in retirement savings for those between the age of 56 and 61, you'd think most Americans are never going to retire. I mean, how do you retire with only $17,000?

But the reality is that around 69% of Americans are out of the full-time workforce by age 66, and roughly 51% retire between the age of 61 and 65, according to LIMRA, the Life Insurance and Market Research Association. So by age 75, 89% of Americans have left the labor force, and thank goodness, because the median age or life expectancy is only around 80 to 85.

But it does surprise me, if you look at the chart, that less than 1% of Americans retire before age 50. I'm definitely in a bubble here, because I think the financial independence retire early movement has taken off over the past five years. I mean, who doesn't want to leave a job they don't really like to do something they really like, or just do nothing and go travel, or do some writing, or spend time with family and whatnot.

The other thing is that freelance work and work that can be done remotely has really risen. I think over the next 10 to 15 years, the number of freelancers will surpass the number of full-time workers, thanks to technology. So I thought the number would be higher. So if you retire before the age of 50, you are in the 1% of something.

How are retirees able to survive on so little? Well, the simple answer is that there are traditional pensions that people take, retirement work plans like the 401(k) and IRA, and also Social Security. So LIMRA reports that some 41% of retirees have annual income of less than $25,000. That's not going to get you very far, unless you don't have many expenses.

And then of the retirees with income of over $50,000 a year, about 80% draw from a pension or retirement plan. So that makes sense. Unfortunately, most of us, well, most of the people under age 40 are not going to have pensions anymore. I mean, that's crazy. And even if there was such a thing as a pension, everybody's job hopping every two to three to four years, that you're not going to stay long enough to collect that pension.

So the ultimate focus on retirement savings needs to be on maxing out your 401(k), maxing out your IRA if you're eligible, and also saving additional after-tax, after pre-tax retirement account money into a brokerage account. So you can keep up with and surpass inflation. You need an after-tax investment account because life happens, right?

Your job is going to change, you might have an emergency you need to pay for. Who knows? Who knows? You might get sick and tired of your job at age 50, and there's like a 10-year gap. You have to wait until you can collect on that pre-tax retirement money without paying a 10% penalty.

And then just for added security, I think it's very wise to build multiple income streams to reduce concentration risk. So rental income, you've got your dividend income, maybe online income, maybe you're selling one of your products, you're selling some of your services, whatnot. So also, part-time work is an obvious, obvious supplement.

The typical image I see is a 65-plus-year-old person who is greeting you at Whole Foods or Walmart or Safeway or one of those chains. And maybe they're only making $10 to $15 an hour, but that work is supplemental, and that should allow you to pay for some food and maybe some random expenses here and there.

The key really is to have a paid-off house and to have health care coverage. There is Medicare, Medicaid. I think one of the things you need to be aware of is that health care insurance is so expensive. So I've been paying something around $700 per month for the past five years in health insurance.

It's an enormous expense, thank goodness. But depending on what your plan is, gold, silver, platinum, and how much older you are than 35, the range is probably $600 to $1,200 a month in health care insurance, thanks to our inefficient system. So the key, stay healthy, eat right, keep on exercising, and just really make sure you have disaster health insurance coverage.

After I left full-time work at the age of 34 in 2012, I never really stopped working. For maybe six months, I did a lot of traveling, hung out, but I was just more motivated than ever not to fall through the cracks. I had my passive income streams dialed up.

I was working on my online income. But I basically decided, "You know what? I have the time and freedom now to do whatever I want, and so I might as well do something that I like to do." And so that's been writing for the past five, six years, and it's been great.

So I hope this article has helped you guys see where you are on the retirement perspective, and share your thoughts and comments below. Take care.