Working Post-Retirement Is The New Reality For Many Midlifers

Retirement is taking on a whole new meaning for many midlifers: Some 57 percent of workers over 60 would seek a new job after retirement, according to a recent survey by Harris Interactive© for CareerBuilder and PrimeCB.com.

While 71 percent of respondents said they could retire within six years, 11 percent of respondents didn't think they would ever be able to retire, according to Career Builder, which surveyed more than 800 workers aged 60 and older, and more than 3,000 hiring professionals.

"Whether mature workers are motivated by financial concerns or simply enjoy going to work every day, we're seeing more people move away from the traditional definition of retirement and seek 'rehirement,'" Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, said in a statement.

"At the same time, employers are seeing the value these mature workers can bring to an organization, from their intellectual capital to their mentoring and training capabilities," Haefner stated. In fact, some 41 percent of employers told Career Builder they had hired post 50 workers in 2011, and 43 percent expect to hire them in 2012.

Separately, a recent survey of British workers found that 68 percent say they can't afford to retire when they had planned because of dismal returns on investments and a higher-than-expected cost of living. "People are living longer, and for many, the very real prospect of a thirty year retirement is either unpalatable or unaffordable, hence the decision by many to continue to work," Vince Smith-Hughes, the Prudential's retirement income expert, told AOL.

But to many, delaying retirement doesn't merely mean slowing down in their 70s. A 2011 Wells Fargo survey found a quarter of respondents believed they would have to work until they are at least 80 to save enough money for retirement.

Similarly, a recent report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found the percentage of workers over 55 has increased in recent years. EBRI analyzed recent U.S. Census Bureau data, which revealed that the percentage of workers 55 and older increased from 29.4 percent in 1993 to 40.2 percent in 2010 and 2011, the highest level in 35 years. According to EBRI's report:

This upward trend is not surprising and is likely to continue because of workers’ need for continued access to employment-based health insurance and for more earning years to accumulate savings in defined contribution (401(k)-type) plans. Older Americans, particularly those in the private sector, increasingly have less access to guaranteed levels of income (such as pensions) or health insurance benefits when they retire.... However, financial concerns are not the only incentives involved here—there also there also is an increased desire among many Americans to work longer, particularly among those with more education, for whom more meaningful jobs are often available that can be done well into older ages.

We asked Huff/Post50 readers what careers they dreamed of pursuing after retirement; check out the slideshow below for their responses.

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• Laura Grassia

• Tim Skellett

• Wendy Jo Moyer

• Nancy Collamer

• June SaundersGrayson

• Angie J. Sanders

• Sari Navarro

• TheRealJenJo

• Kimberly Taylor

• Robert Latham

• Rachel Gerrity

• SqueakyZorro

• Sats Sehgal

• Carlos Eduardo

• Jared Christman

• Sarah Guo

• Jacobo Esquenazi

• Paige Colson

• Laurel Cashman

• Jim Hannon

• Median Politician

• Hapahiro

• Gerrarrdus

• donna serrano

• Darla Devnich

• Sara Ryan

• Diana Palacios

• ਨਵਰੂਜ਼ ਸਿੰਘ

• Mark Mansour�

• Tim Hermanson

• JeffreyMoser

• Juan Cifrian

Comments

[sunflower12]

09:08 PM on 03/27/2012

I'm 58, I can use some extra cash. I've chosen to work part-time. It gives me some social interaction, it keeps me alert. It's not so bad/
however, I've been trying to find a way to work from home/internet, because I want to be able to travel and work from anywhere in the world. Still trying to get there, but I'll do it.

[Lindytindy]

09:30 AM on 02/20/2012

Our increasing poverty is making retirement a thing of the past. Retirement is wonderful. Educated people especially love it, everyone would love it if they could do it. I'm reading every book I always wanted to read, hiking, walking the streets of a wonderful city, one of my favorite day trips, visiting art galleries when they are not crowded on the days entrance is free, taking classes, growing crops in my yard, spending more time with my wonderful husband, all things I had very little time to enjoy while working. But the propaganda is that we don't really want it, it's not good for us, just like cancer tests...plan early, aim for it as your primary goal and retire as early as possible, plan on a simpler lifestyle maybe in a foreign country where the cost of living is low and health care is affordable. My mother is doing it on Social Security, she knows how to live cheaply and well. Oh but Social Security is bad for us too, and must be eliminated to use that money to make more war and provide welfare for the rich.

[eric14]

07:49 AM on 02/21/2012

Nice post.

[KIVPossum]

10:31 AM on 02/21/2012

Not completely. Better health in old age is making it so many older people have the strength and energy to continue working. A lot of us want to do something constructive with our lives.

While you are happy with your life and the things you list, I would be bored out of my mind.

[Lesann]

10:39 AM on 02/21/2012

You are correct.

My father retired from his job of 35 years, and then ran a foundation for 10 more. He finally retired at 78. My mother worked, voluntarily, until she was 74. They either would have ki ll ed each other or died from boredom if they had retired before then.

[Lesann]

10:41 AM on 02/21/2012

"Retirement is wonderful. Educated people especially love it,"

Let me add - my father is very well educated. He has a Master's degree in hospital administration, and he has a law degree.