Can you really find a job in retirement?

Age bias, health issues can be major obstacles

For you pre- retirees who didn’t save enough and are planning to work in retirement to help pay for your golden years, you may be in for a rude awakening.

Oh, and you pre- retirees who have saved enough money but just want to continue to work because you want to be engaged, you, too, may be in for a rude awakening.

The fact is, only a small percentage of people who plan to work in retirement are actually able to do it.

“The portion of pre- retirees who say they expect to work in retirement is very high,” between 60% and 80%, says Sara Rix, strategic policy adviser at the AARP Public Policy Institute in Washington. But the reality is that the proportion of people who actual- ly work in retirement is much lower.

In 2012, only 18.2% of people 65 and older were working. While that’s up significantly from 10.8% in 1985, Rix says it’s a lot lower than the number who expected to work. “One reason is the difficulty that older workers face, the barriers to trying to find new employment,” she says. “Discrimination remains a problem even though we can’t tap into specific numbers.”

Laurie McCann, senior attorney with AARP Foundation Litigation, says older workers who were laid off during the Great Recession thought they would have no problem getting a new job, because they were very skilled. “When they finally get around to looking for another job, age discrimination rears its ugly head, and severance is running out,” she says.

Older workers face far longer periods of unemployment, McCann says. “Many fall into the category of discouraged workers. Some just give up. For those who do find re- employment, it’s often for far less money than they were making.”

The other huge issue for retirees wanting and hoping to continue working is health. A recent study of

Boomers by MetLife Market Institute found that health issues were the reason 17% of older Boomers retired, Rix says.

But despite age discrimination and health care issues, financial planners and life coaches say there are things you should consider doing that will make your transition to a working retirement easier.

1. START PLANNING LONG BEFORE YOU RETIRE. Life coach and retirement expert Anne McNeill of West Palm Beach, Fla., says things will go a lot better for job- seeking retirees if they plan, and plan early. “Ask the question, ‘ What skills do I need? If I knew I was going to want to be a speaker, how do I prepare?’ Go back and retool, retrain for that next career.”

Moira McGarvey, former executive recruiter and founder of the Boomer website www.Gangsaway.com, says people should plan at least five years ahead. “The whole idea of pre- plan- ning is to figure out what is important,” she says. “Maybe you are an accountant and want to be a hairdresser. Go see what it takes to be a hairdresser. Get that going before you reach the end of your career.”

You should also take that new career for a test drive to see if that’s what you really want to do, McGarvey says. Volunteer or find a way to experience it.

She tells the story of a banker who wanted to be a teacher. He left the bank and paid to go back to school to be certified as a teacher. It wasn’t until he did his student teaching that he found out he hated it.

2. IF POSSIBLE, STAY IN YOUR CURRENT JOB, EVEN IF IT’S IN A REDUCED CAPACITY, OR STAY WITH YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER. “People in midlife should give ( some) thought to what they’d like to do toward the end of their careers,” says Rix. “It is easier to stay where you are.”

Research shows that when it comes to age discrimination legisla- tion, it seems to have had a positive impact on the relationship between workers and their current employers, making it possible for people to stay longer with that employer.

“To change careers and jobs is harder, and you shouldn’t expect that it will happen automatically,” she says.

3. CONSIDER TURNING A HOBBY INTO A JOB OR BUSINESS. “A lot of people in their 50s are preparing for their retirement careers,” says Dennis Miller, author of the book Retirement Reboot and founder of the retirement website www.MillersMoney.com.

For example, Miller says, perhaps you have a skill and want a retirement career teaching that craft.

“One lady wrote to me that she signed up for Toastmasters to improve her public speaking skills, so when she retires, she can go out and give talks to teach others about her hobbies.”

4. BE PREPARED TO MAKE LESS MONEY — A LOT LESS. Rix says they did a study that looked at midlife career changes, both voluntary and involuntary, and found that older workers who make changes typically experienced earnings and benefit reductions in new jobs, but had more flexible work schedules and were overwhelmingly satisfied.

Tom McGuigan, principal with Exencial Wealth Advisors in Old Lyme, Conn., tells his clients to consider three things in planning.

First, they need to be really conservative. If someone starts working part time, they will not make anything near what they did before.

Not only should they be conservative on how much they think they will earn, but also in the idea of how many years they will actually be able to work. “Sometimes, health is a problem,” he says. “The second thing is to remind people that if you think you need an extra $ 20,000 of semiretired income to make things work, don’t forget there are substantial taxes — federal, state, as well as payroll. Or if you are self- employed, double the payroll tax.”

Finally, keep in mind that if you are under the full retirement age and plan to draw Social Security benefits early, if you earn more than $ 15,120, your benefits will be reduced, McGuigan says. “We can’t double count that.”