Largely due to the economy, more workers expect to put off their retirement and for many of them the expected delay will be longer than previously expected, according to a study by the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
The report was the latest in a line of studies examining the impact on work patterns in light of losses in investments, home values and other setbacks of recent years concluding that a shift in retirement expectations has occurred and may not shift back anytime soon.
Nearly two-fifths of respondents to a survey said they expected to work up to five years longer than they previously had planned.
For example, a declining percentage of Americans are expect to retire at 62 and 65, two bellwether ages because the first is the earliest that Social Security benefits can be drawn after standard, optional retirement, and the second because it is the first eligibility age in Medicare in most cases. “In 2006, 7.4 percent of people said they plan to stop working at 62, but by 2010 it had dropped to 4.9 percent. In 2006, 16.1 percent people expected to retire at 65, but in 2010, 14.6 percent planned to do so. Conversely, expected retirement at 66 has increased from 2.9 percent in 2006 to 4 percent in 2010,” the report said.
Similarly, in 2006, only 4.3 percent said they expected to continue working until age 75 and only 1.7 percent until age 80, but in the most recent study those numbers jumped to 7 and 5.2 percent, respectively.
“While the rising age of expected retirement may reflect a growing and welcome awareness of economic and fiscal reality among Americans workers (especially at a time of rising longevity), other research indicates many of them will be unable to actually delay their retirement,” the study warned. It cited research showing that people may need to retire earlier than they had been prepared for due to changes such as personal health or disability, downsizing and other changes at their employer, and needing to care for a family member.
