The average age at which men in the U.S. retire had been rising steadily since the 1990s, but it’s finally leveling off.

Even with today’s financial uncertainty, it’s unlikely to go much higher for now, according to a new brief out of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

The study only looked at men, because women have only been a major factor throughout the workforce for about 50 years, and their retirement age has basically been going up the whole time. Men’s retirement age increased partly because people can work longer, per certified financial planner David Demming.

“In the old days, if you were in corporate America, you would be forced out by a certain age and couldn't get into your 60s or older,” he said.

The other reason: fewer of us get pensions, noted Richard Johnson, director of the Program on Retirement Policy with the Urban Institute.

So now, “the more you work, the more you can contribute to your retirement plan, the more your employer contributes to your retirement plan,” he said.

The shift away from pensions has played out already, Johnson added. And he said the pandemic-era conversation about work-life balance has encouraged more people to retire as soon as they can afford it.