Retirement & Financial Planning Report

The oldest members of the baby boom generation show wide variation in their approaches to retirement, a study has found, with almost half of those age 65 already fully retired but with those not retired expecting to work longer than was common in the past.

The study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute showed that 45 percent of those age 65 are fully retired, 24 percent are working full-time, another 14 percent are partially retired and working either part-time or seasonally and the rest are on disability, are self-employed or looking for work. Those who are not yet retired don’t expect to do so until age 68 ½ on average.

The report also found that life often interferes with retirement plans. Of those who are retired, just above half retired earlier than they had expected; almost four-tenths cited poor health and another 16 percent cited a loss of their jobs.

A third changed their retirement plans to a later date, and of those, 27 percent said they are doing it because they need the income, while 24 percent said they enjoy working or want to stay active.

A quarter said they have no concerns about retirement, but of the rest almost all of the concerns relate to finances in some way: having enough money, being able to provide for family, being able to afford health care, having to return to work due to financial need, and similar issues. The only concern not directly related to finances was about staying useful and productive.

Of those not retired, 11 percent said they have achieved their retirement savings goals, 26 percent consider themselves on track to do so, 36 percent are somewhat behind, and the rest are either significantly behind or never set a goal.

Among those oldest boomers, the average age they consider to be "old" is 79.