Seven in 10 boomers say they either expect to work past age 65 or already are doing so, but maintaining a career may be harder than many of them realize, according to a Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies report.
While working past the age of 65 can help boomers fund living expenses and potentially make up any retirement plan shortfalls, the report found that working at that age can sometimes be difficult.
The survey also showed boomers don’t want to put in full-time hours. Instead, 42 percent would prefer to phase into retirement by working fewer hours.
“Baby boomers (those born from 1946 to 1964) have rewritten societal rules at every stage of their life—and retirement is no different,” the said report, which is based on the 19th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey of American workers.
“Boomers are at the forefront of defining retirement as a new phase of life that can bring freedom, purpose and enjoyment,” the report stated.
But whether boomers’ expectations are realistic is an open question. According to the Federal Reserve, half of retirees in 2017 retired before age 62, and another quarter retired between 62 and 64. In fact, the Fed reported, a total of 75 percent of 2017 retirees retired by age 64.
There’s also the matter of finding an accomodating employer. Phasing into retirement by cutting back hours “may be easier said than done” since only 29 percent of boomers indicated their employers offer any kind of flexible retirement-transition options, the Transamerica report found.
“Today’s workers envision a flexible transition into retirement,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the nonprofit Transamerica Institute and the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. “Employers tend to think of work and retirement as an all-or-nothing proposition.”
Added Collinson, “It’s a big disconnect that baby boomers envision a flexible transition to retirement in the absence of the ability to do so."
Most employers simply don’t have formal programs in place to support phasing into retirement, she said. Companies also don’t offer much in terms of lifestyle counseling, financial counseling and phased-in retirement.