Workers have been remaining in the labor force longer before retiring since the 1990s, said Steven Sass, an associate director at Boston College's Center for Retirement Research. The shift from traditional pensions to 401(k) savings plans means employees may not have enough income at age 62 or age 65 to replace their earnings during retirement, Sass said.
The rate of people age 55 and older participating in the labor force, which means they are either working or looking for employment, was 40.3 percent in May, compared with 29.2 percent in 1993, said Sok of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Workers who are able delay their retirement past age 65 still may not have enough income to cover their basic expenses and any uninsured health-care costs once they stop working, according to a June report from the Washington-based Employee Benefit Research Institute.
"You just can't simply go through your career not saving assuming that well if I get to 65 and I defer retirement a couple of years I'll be fine," Jack VanDerhei, EBRI's research director said. "It's simply not going to be the case for everybody."