For some retirees, no daily grind is costly
Many cite mortgages, debt, health care for working in retirement
Here’s how many Americans plan to spend their retirement: working.
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, according to an Ipsos/ USA TODAY survey of 1,152 adults in mid- March.
A third of those surveyed plan to delay retirement past the traditional benchmark of 65. Twenty- two percent say they’ll hang it up when they’re between 66 and 70, 7% prefer to hold off until their early 70s, and 3% vow not to give up the grind until after age 75. Eight percent don’t plan to retire.
The lingering aftereffects of the Great Recession at least partly explain the widespread desire to put off the traditional rewards of toiling 30 to 40 years. Bouts of unemployment, the housing crash, aid provided to distressed family members and mountains of student debt are some of the factors respondents say are making it tough to save enough for retirement.
Dorothy Pope, 52, a special education teacher who lives in Marshall, Mich., has faced a variety of stumbling blocks. She amassed $ 180,000 in student loan debt to earn a master’s degree and Ph. D. She financially helped family members who lost jobs in the recession. She doesn’t expect to receive a full pension because of a state funding shortfall. And her husband had to stop working because of a health issue.
Pope earns $ 80,000 a year and has $ 20,000 in retirement savings.
“I’m kind of scared,” she says. “I feel like I’ve got to do something.” She plans to work until she’s 67, then take a parttime job she would enjoy.
Even so, she says, she and her husband cut back their cable TV and are eating out less often to gird for a more austere retirement.
More people are already working longer. Nearly 20% of Americans 65 and older were in the labor force last year, up from 16% in 2007 and 10.8% in 1985, according to the Labor Department and AARP.
Of those surveyed who plan to work after retiring, 65% say they’ll have to supplement their income, though many point to other reasons as well, such as wanting to keep busy and stay socially engaged. And there’s the need to make nest eggs last across longer lifespans.
Employers’ growing tendency to hire consultants and other temporary workers to complete projects and replace expensive full- time staffers also has created new opportunities.
After they officially retire, many former law enforcement professionals, information technology specialists and other government employees can earn close to their former salaries while performing similar jobs. And so they find the easy money too good to pass up.
But for low- to moderate- income Americans, additional income is likely the driving force for working into advanced age.
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, and 34% have between $ 100,000 and $ 500,000.
Survey participants pointed tomyriad reasons for falling behind. Nearly a third said unemployment had a moderate to extreme impact, 39% placed similar blame on a mortgage, 48% medical issues, 37% helping family members and 44% paying off debt.