While the percentage of workers 60 and older who are postponing retirement fell in a survey released Wednesday by CareerBuilder, almost two-thirds of older workers still say they will put off retirement because they can't afford it. One year ago, 72% of workers over 60 said they couldn't afford to retire.
CareerBuilder surveyed over 500 workers 60 and older and found 28% said they would retire in the next two years. Twenty-seven percent said they would retire in three to four years, and 18% are looking at retirement in the next five to six years. One in 10 workers surveyed said they don’t think they'll ever be able to retire, and 16% said it'll be at least seven years before they can stop working.
Two-thirds of respondents said they had to keep working due to financial restraints, and 58% said they needed to maintain health insurance and other benefits through their employers. Workers' reasons for staying on the job weren't all negative, though. Almost 40% said they would keep working because they enjoy their job, though, and 36% said they "enjoy where they work." Over one-quarter are worried retirement will "just be boring," and 14% said they enjoy feeling needed.
While 65% of older workers say they will postpone retirement, opportunities for work may be limited. The national unemployment rate fell to 9.4% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. In December 2010, the unemployment rate for workers between 60 and 64 was 6.7%. Unemployment increased slightly to 6.9% for workers 65 and older.
"Twenty-two percent of workers age 60 and up that we surveyed said they have asked their employer to stay longer with the company, while 29 percent of companies said they are open to keeping workers on board a little longer," Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, said in a press release. Forty-five percent of respondents said they would look for part-time work to "stay active and help support their bank accounts" after they retire.
No comments:
Post a Comment