It's not a good sign if you don't have any colleagues over age 65, and the company doesn't have any age-friendly policies or initiatives in place. A company or industry that is consolidating or struggling can also be a red flag, he said.

Nearly half of retirees leave the workforce earlier than planned, according to the 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and, of those, 26 percent cite changes at their company such as a downsizing or closure. In the TransAmerica survey, 12 percent of companies said they had employees who recently retired as a result of a layoff or termination, and 15 percent, due to organizational changes.

(Don't forget about personal risk factors, either. In the EBRI pool of workers who retired earlier than planned, 41 percent did so due to health problems or disability, and another 14 percent, to provide care for a spouse or other family member.)

Expand your plan to consider options such as creating a consulting business, or making a career pivot, Beck said. That can pay off: A recent paper from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that workers who voluntarily change jobs in their 50s tend to stay in the workforce longer than those who stay put.

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How to gauge your chances of a phased retirement - CNBC