Could Working Be the New Retirement?

A new survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that 82 percent of American workers age 60 and older are either currently working, or expect to keep working past the age of 65.  “The days of the gold-watch retirement where we have an office party and maybe some punch and cookies and never work again are more mythical than a reality,” says Catherine Collinson, president of the retirement studies center.  “It even raises the question is retirement the right word.”

Many workers are now worried that they will not have enough money to last during their lifetime.  Outliving investments and savings was a top concern for 44 percent of respondents in the survey.  One-third of all workers believe their standard of living will fall as soon as they stop working.  Yet, regardless a person’s age, they can still save for their golden years.  One rule of thumb Collinson recommends is to stop guessing how much is needed to retire and actually run the numbers, “From there you can build a plan . . . Planning not to retire is not a viable retirement strategy.  At some point in our lives we’ll all stop working.”

See Charisse Jones, Traditional Retirement Possibly Becoming a Thing of the Past, USA Today, May 5, 2015.