Americans Plan to Spend Their Retirement Working

Nearly 20% of Americans age 65 and older were in the labor force last year, up from 16% in 2007 and 10.8% in 1985.

April 12, 2017

MCLEAN, Va. – A new Ipsos/USA Today survey reveals that older Americans plan to spend their retirement by remaining in the daily grind.

About a third of 45- to 65-year-olds say they’ll work part-time in their golden years and 4% aim to have a full-time job, changing the very meaning of retirement, notes the survey. Furthermore, one-third of those surveyed plan to delay retirement past the traditional benchmark of 65, with 22% saying they’ll retire between ages 66 and 70, 7% saying they will wait until their early 70s, 3% saying they’ll retire after age 75, and 8% saying they’ll never retire. 

The survey suggests that the lingering effects of the Great Recession partly explain the widespread desire for Americans to put off retirement, with years of unemployment, the housing crash, aid provided to distressed family members and student debt as some of the factors respondents cite that make it harder to save enough funds for retirement.

“A lot of people got off track with their savings over the course of the recession and they’re still making up for that,” Jennifer Schramm, senior strategy policy adviser for the AARP Public Policy Institute, told USA Today.

While many plan to delay their retirement, more Americans are already working longer. Per the Labor Department and AARP data, nearly 20% of Americans age 65 and older were in the labor force last year, up from 16% in 2007 and 10.8% in 1985.

Of those surveyed who plan to work after retiring, 65% say they’ll have to supplement their income, though many point to other reasons such as keeping busy and remaining socially engaged.

USA Today writes that at least 61% of those surveyed say they’re somewhat or very confident they’ll have enough money for living expenses, health care, housing, travel and other staples in retirement. “But the hard math belies their optimism. Fifty-four percent say they’ll need more than $500,000 to live comfortably and a third believe they should sock away $1 million or more. Yet 30% have no retirement savings. And of the 68% who do, 30% have less than $100,000 while 34% have between $100,000 and $500,000.”

Marguerita Cheng, CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, told the news source that some of her Baby Boomer clients are delaying retirement because they helped their millennial kids with expenses when they couldn’t find jobs or took low-paying positions after college or the recession. “I’ve never told a client you shouldn’t help your kids,” he said.

For those who are retiring, they plan to keep busy and money in their pocket through part-time work. Harvey Leven, 64, of Farmington, Mich., earns $85,000 a year and has about $750,000 in savings, notes USA Today. he’s confident he can afford basic expenses when he retires at 67, but he also intends to work part-time as a teacher, his former job.

“I wouldn’t go work at McDonald’s,” he told the news source. “It’s something I enjoy doing and it'll also enhance my income,” to finance monthly trips to Maryland to visit his grandchildren. “No matter how much money you have, it’s never enough.”

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