MW Warren Buffett will step down at age 95. Here's how rare it is be working at that age.

By Steve Goldstein

The Oracle of Omaha will be in rarefied company when he steps down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

When Warren Buffett steps down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway $(BRK.A)$ $(BRK.B)$ - but stays on as chair - at the end of the year, he'll be 95 years old. That will put him in rarefied company, not just for a high-ranking executive but for being in the workforce at all.

As of the March current population survey - which is used each month to generate unemployment and other labor-market data - there were just under 6,000 95-year-olds in the workforce, out of a population of nearly 188,000. Buffett's current cohort of 94-year-olds has just over 7,000 people in the labor market, out of a population of 243,000.

How often do 95-year-olds retire? One way to examine that is to look at when they make their first claim for Social Security.

While there is a financial incentive to delay claiming benefits until age 70, because the amount increases about 8% per year for every year past a person's full retirement age - which, for people born in and after 1960, is 67 - waiting until after age 70 to claim doesn't really offer any extra value.

The only way someone would get more money in benefits if they waited is if any of the years they work after age 70 turn out to be among the 35 highest-earning years of their career. Buffett, however, would have in any case long ago maxed out on his potential Social Security benefits.

Anyway, waiting that long is quite rare - 0.2% of the 1.79 million people who claimed benefits for the first time in 2023 were 75 or older, according to Social Security data.

The Social Security Administration didn't return a message asking how many, if any, people making their first claim were 95-year-olds.

-Steve Goldstein

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May 05, 2025 11:48 ET (15:48 GMT)

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