It’s a question that’s becoming increasingly central to retirement planning discussions: Just how long will workers need to continue their careers to ensure they can live comfortably upon retiring?
While “’til death” is still relatively rare, more Americans are sailing past traditional retirement ages, and age 70 (at least) is quickly becoming the new norm.
Roughly one in four U.S. employees now believe they won’t be able to retire until after age 70, if at all, according to a survey by Willis Towers Watson. Additionally, nearly one-third (32 percent) anticipate retiring later than previously planned.
The company’s “Global Benefits Attitudes Survey” found 23 percent believe they’ll have to work past age 70 to live comfortably in retirement; another 5 percent don’t think they’ll ever be able to retire. According to the survey, while the average U.S. employee expects to retire at age 65, they admit there is a 50 percent chance of working to age 70.
“Although their financial situation has improved over the past few years, many workers remain worried about their long-term financial stability,” Steven Nyce, a senior economist at Willis Towers Watson, said in a statement. “In fact, the only way for many employees to achieve retirement security and overcome inadequate savings is to work longer. Interestingly, employees are increasingly looking to their employers for help with retirement.”
Indeed, the survey reveals a strong commitment to retirement planning, as more than six in 10 (62 percent) respondents expressed willingness to increase their paycheck deductions to secure more generous retirement benefits. Similarly, 63 percent would agree to pay more for guaranteed benefits at the time of retirement.
The survey also shows employees who expect to work longer are less healthy, more stressed and more likely to feel stuck in their jobs than those who expect to retire earlier. According to the survey, 40 percent of employees expecting to retire after age 70 have high or above average stress levels, compared with 30 percent of those expecting to retire at 65. For those planning to retire after age 70, less than half (47 percent) say they are in very good health, while nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of those retiring at age 65 state they are in very good health. Additionally, 40% of employees planning to work past 70 feel they are stuck in their jobs, compared with just a quarter of those who expect to retire at 65 (28 percent) or before 65 (27 percent).
Among other survey findings:
- A quarter (24 percent) of employees under age 30 believe they’ll retire in their 70s or later, increasing to 28 percent of those in their 30s and a third (33 percent) of those in their 40s.
- Over the past two decades, the percentage of U.S. men aged 65 or older who are working has grown from 15 percent in 2003 to 22 percent last year.
- Almost eight in 10 workers will rely on their employer retirement plan(s) as the primary vehicle they use to save for retirement.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
