Dr. Oz Wants Americans to Work One Year Longer

Working one more year could add value to the economy, but the $3 trillion figure cited by Mehmet Oz is a broad economic claim, not a promise of extra income for individual workers. Whether people can stay employed longer depends on health, job stability and the incentives available to them.

Working one more year and the $3 trillion claim

At a recent event, Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, argued that Americans could support the economy and federal finances by extending their working lives. He described two possibilities: beginning work a year sooner after high school or delaying retirement by a year. Together, he said, those changes could generate $3 trillion for the U.S. economy.

Oz connected the proposal to the timing of retirement benefits. Medicare generally begins at 65, he said, while some people stop working before they qualify for Medicare or begin receiving Social Security. He argued that a larger or longer working population could help reduce federal debt and strengthen the finances of both programs. The $3 trillion estimate is an economy wide figure, however. It does not say how much any household would earn or how much program finances would improve.

For a person considering a later exit from work, the practical question is not simply whether the national economy might gain. It is whether continued work is realistic and worthwhile for that person. A useful first step is to compare a retirement budget with expected income and expenses under different retirement dates, then consider health, job prospects and the timing of benefit eligibility.

Retirement age figures show a mixed picture

In 2024, the average retirement age reported by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College was 62.6 for men and 64.6 for women. Those averages provide a snapshot, not a recommended retirement date for any individual.

Teresa Ghilarducci, an economics professor at the New School, has questioned whether adding older workers necessarily raises productivity. If older employees produce less and younger people are not fully employed, she argued in a December 2024 interview, the economy may not gain overall productivity. She also pointed to quality of life as a measure of prosperity beyond total output.

Why later retirement may be hard to extend

Retirement ages have risen over recent decades alongside longer life expectancies, fewer physically demanding jobs and changes to Social Security. But averages can conceal the reasons people stop working. In the 2025 Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies survey, employment issues were the more commonly reported reason among middle class retirees who left before 65; health was another major factor.

Alicia Munnell, a senior advisor at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, has said further gains in the average retirement age are unlikely without new incentives. That matters for households weighing a later retirement: simply planning to work longer does not guarantee an employer, good health or suitable work will be there. Before changing a retirement date, check whether the plan still works if employment ends earlier than expected, and confirm how the revised timing affects access to Medicare and Social Security.