Retire? Many older Americans say ‘no’

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, such as in art, photography or retail. 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 has created new opportunities for older workers. 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, says Sterling Raskie, a certified financial planner at Blankenship Financial Planners.

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 to myriad 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.

Marguerita Cheng, CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, says some of her Baby Boomer clients helped their Millennial kids with expenses when they couldn’t find jobs — or had to take low-level positions — after graduating college during or after the recession, eating into their savings. And so they’re delaying retirement two or three years.

Some boomers had to cope with unemployment themselves. Griff Jacobsen and his wife, Belinda, have a household income that tops $100,000. But Jacobsen, who helps hospitals obtain payments for health care and other claims, was laid off after a merger two years ago and was out of work for 11⁄ years, forcing him to 2 draw from his savings to pay living expenses and take out college loans for his three sons.

The couple, who live in Forth Worth, have $250,000 to $500,000 in retirement savings, but, Jacobsen says, “I don’t think that’s going to be enough. Most financial advisors will tell you (that) you need at least $1 million.” Certified planners typically advise clients to withdraw no more than 4% of a nest egg each year to supplement Social Security income or a pension.

Jacobsen plans to work until he’s 70, then take a part-time job repairing cars or as a sales associate at a hardware store. “I can help people solve problems and also make a little extra money” so he can take grandchildren on trips or eat out more often.

For Rhonda Avery, 59, of Oxnard, Calif., the chief roadblock to a traditional retirement was a divorce that required her to pay tens of thousands of dollars of her husband’s debts and sell her home at a $43,000 loss in the wake of the housing bust. A $52,000 paralegal who has $60,000 in savings, Avery says she may never be able to retire. If she does — in her early 70s— she says she’ll take an undetermined parttime job to help pay living expenses. She also plans to sell her house, move into a smaller apartment and give up her car.

“I feel exhausted just thinking about it,” says Avery, who has a chronic health problem. Retirement is “not going to be all flowers and traveling around the world.”

Even some who seem poised to kick back in retirement are looking to work part time. Harvey Leven, 64, of Farmington, Mich., earns $85,000 a year and has about $750,000 in savings. While he’s confident he can afford basic expenses when he retires at 67, he intends to work part-time as a teacher, his former job.

“It’s something I enjoy, and it’ll enhance my income” to finance monthly trips to Maryland to visit his grandchildren, Leven says. “No matter how much money you have, it’s never enough.”