Older Americans attitudes towards work and retirement

[jollystomper]

(I may have put this in the wrong thread - I was thinking this was money related since the focus was on working due not not enough money for retirement. Mods, I apologize, feel free to move it where it is more appropriate)

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Research just released the results of a survey of older workers and their attitudes towards working and retirement:

Working Longer: Older Americans Attitudes

From the above summary page link the detailed survey results (13 page PDF) can be downloaded.

Older Americans are not only growing rapidly in numbers, but are also becoming substantially healthier. The duration of healthy old-age is increasing, due in part to increases in the length of life and to shorter and later periods of illness. Faced with the expectations of living healthier for longer, older adults may opt to remain in the workforce for longer and defer savings, pensions, and Social Security for older age. Increased workforce participation for older adults has implications for retirement policy, Social Security and health care financing, and the behavior of employers and employees alike.

 

[timo2]

Boomers never have been one homogeneous group, so generalizations don't apply. But we can expect each group to try to outshout the other. Why would they change just because they are older?

 

[imoldernu]

The Survey:

http://www.apnorc.org/PDFs/Working%20Longer/AP-NORC%20Center_Working%20Longer%20Report-FINAL.pdf
Sooo. While I didn't make the 1%, at least the top 13%.

 

[Willers]

The Survey:

http://www.apnorc.org/PDFs/Working Longer/AP-NORC Center_Working Longer Report-FINAL.pdf

An interesting bar in one of the charts. Only 60% of those over 50 with less than $50K saved felt mostly anxious vs. mostly secure. That means 40% feel mostly secure. I can't imagine how things will end well for that group.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

An interesting bar in one of the charts. Only 60% of those over 50 with less than $50K saved felt mostly anxious vs. mostly secure. That means 40% feel mostly secure. I can't imagine how things will end well for that group.

Unfortunately, I have a lot of friends and family that must be in that group. Sometimes I think I must spend more time concerned about their future than they are.

 

[Gumby]

An interesting bar in one of the charts. Only 60% of those over 50 with less than $50K saved felt mostly anxious vs. mostly secure. That means 40% feel mostly secure. I can't imagine how things will end well for that group.

One of the reasons I doubt the accuracy of any study that uses subjective survey input (i.e. - asking someone if they are confident with their level of savings). Some people are blithely unaware/deluded and some are just worrywarts.

A much better study would be to select a group of people, run their actual, objective data through something like FIRECalc and report the success rate by whatever groupings seem to be of interest (age, sex, education level, etc.)

 

[Walt34]

An interesting bar in one of the charts. Only 60% of those over 50 with less than $50K saved felt mostly anxious vs. mostly secure. That means 40% feel mostly secure. I can't imagine how things will end well for that group.

That makes me think of the BIL married to Spendarina. She talks of retirement in Sarasota, FL, but two years ago they were on the verge of having to refinance the house to pay for a new roof on the house. Three or four months ago she bought the fourth or fifth new car (I've lost count) in the last ten years. Oh, and did I mention the recent $20k kitchen redo with the granite counter tops? And the upstairs bath redo? Her "emergency fund" is $500.

Hope they have trailer parks in Sarasota. She is in for a rude awakening.

I think lots of others are in for the same surprise.