With recent bank failures roiling the stock market, fears of national economic instability have been stoked once again—and it's not as if people weren't worried before, particularly those nearing retirement age. A recent report from online real estate brokerage Clever disclosed that retiring comfortably in 2023 seems like even more of a pipe dream than it did a year ago, thanks to a multitude of factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and a general misunderstanding of what it takes to save for retirement on the part of U.S. workers. "Faced with rising prices and stock market setbacks, the average retiree has $21,000 less in savings than they had at the start of 2022 — dropping from $191,659 to $170,726. What's more, the share of retirees with nothing saved jumped from 30% to 37%," wrote Clever's Matt Brannon on the company blog. In spite of such daunting statistics, members of every generation intend to retire—some later than others. Northwestern Mutual's 2022 Planning and Progress Study found that the average retirement target for boomers is 71, while Gen Xers plan to call it a day at age 65. Millennials are expecting to retire at 61, while ever-optimistic Gen Zers hope to ride off into the sunset at age 59. How likely is early retirement? Much of the possibility boils down to your career choice, as a new survey illustrates.

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Financial education site RetirementInvestments.com analyzed 172 of the most common professions by comparing such metrics as salary, total working hours, retirement benefit access and future job opportunities. Data came from both the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Department of Labor. Over 1,000 full-time workers were also surveyed, with 50% being men, 49% women, and 1% gender non-conforming. For some careers, the study found, retirement just isn't in the cards. Those in nonprofit/religious and arts/entertainment top the list of workers who don't think they'll ever retire. People working in government and finance have much more retirement confidence. The study also reveals that one in 10 full-time workers chose their careers solely based on retirement benefits. Those workers were mostly found in the military, government, and transportation/warehouse sectors. Many of the jobs found to be the worst for early retirement are in the service industry, with barbers, clergy, and concierges topping the list. (Graphic courtesy of RetirementInvestments.com.) See our slideshow above for the jobs offering the best chance at early retirement, and click here for the full study.