Boomers aren't working forever, after all

[Jay_Gatsby]

COLUMN-Boomers aren't working forever, after all | Reuters

Those boomers retired an average of five years earlier than they had predicted they would; the Metlife survey found that the average filing age for the oldest boomers is 63.6. Those who haven't yet retired continue to forecast longer working lives: They say they will hang in until 71, up from 69 in 2011.

 

[W2R]

That is the average Social Security filing age, too... not necessarily the average retirement age, since some do not claim SS immediately when they retire. From the article,

A recent Gallup poll found that the average U.S. retirement age is 61 - up from 59 a decade ago and 57 in the early 1990s. Among current workers, 37 percent plan to retire after age 65, up from 14 percent in 1995.

So, it sounds like people are retiring at older ages than before, but collecting SS at a younger age? Perhaps that is related to the following depressing observation:

Here's the problem with that work-longer plan: Stuff happens. The Metlife survey found that 54 percent of boomer retirees left the workforce earlier than they intended, most frequently for health reasons (32 percent) or job loss (25 percent).

I feel so fortunate to have been able to retire just because I wanted to, not because of health issues or job loss like so many others of my generation.

 

[nun]

The article's title should be "Booners can't work forever, after all"

Given the small balances in their 401ks and IRAs I'm sure many Boomers will say "Heck I'll just work longer", but it isn't that easy. Their working lives can be stopped by health problems, lay offs and being replaced by cheaper, younger workers.

 

[Bestwifeever]

....

I feel so fortunate to have been able to retire just because I wanted to, not because of health issues or job loss like so many others of my generation.

Ditto. An economic upheaval the pundits call "the Great Recession" wrecked many people's lives, not just the early Boomers' retirement plans. And unexpected health problems can be difficult to factor into those plans.

 

[bld999]

"Their working lives can be stopped by health problems, lay offs and being replaced by cheaper, younger workers."

Unfortunate but true. The choice to work or not, save at really terrible jobs nobody wants to do, is fading into the distance for large numbers of people.

 

[nun]

"Their working lives can be stopped by health problems, lay offs and being replaced by cheaper, younger workers."

Unfortunate but true. The choice to work or not, save at really terrible jobs nobody wants to do, is fading into the distance for large numbers of people.

With increasing productivity, the use of technology and robots to do a lot of jobs and the contracting of work outside the USA the opportunities for the older worker are not exactly great. Of course changes in technology might make it easier to work for yourself and some jobs are returning to the US as costs increase in places like China, but IMHO it will be increasingly difficult for many older Americans to stay in work.

 

[donheff]

People end up retiring earlier than they predict one way or another. More evidence that we need to preserve and repair SS and Medicare rather than blithely let them fall apart. Us FIREes need those safety nets and the young "I will work til I drop" whipper snappers will too.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

The article's title should be "Booners can't work forever, after all"

Given the small balances in their 401ks and IRAs I'm sure many Boomers will say "Heck I'll just work longer", but it isn't that easy. Their working lives can be stopped by health problems, lay offs and being replaced by cheaper, younger workers.

True, but the reality of the foregoing still does not appear to have set in with many Boomers. Even if it has, they have precious little time to make up for past indiscretions. Yet, I can't help but think that the current shift to part-time workers (without benefits, of course) could actually work in favor of Boomers who wish to supplement their retirement income/savings with part-time work.