Americans Working Longer

[street]

Lately, I have heard news articles of Americans are working longer and not retiring early. Seems to be a new trend in working well into the 60's and ER isn't that popular thing to do. It seem like I been hearing this more and seeing articles about it more in the last 5 month's or so. Anyone else notice the news about this. Here is just one article that I posted on the subject. Not saying it is good or bad just saying the thinking is now work, work and work! LOL Good for them.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/retirement-age-changing-why-millions-of-americans-are-working-past-65/

 

[Walt34]

I've been noticing those articles too, perhaps because I'm a regular on this forum and I'm well aware how fortunate we are to be in the position we are.

 

[Plantman]

I believe it has to do with the fact that fewer and fewer have defined benefit pensions. It's probably a trend that will continue for quite awhile.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Most of our friends won’t retire until between 60-66. I still work part time by choice at 64. It would be horrible to be a Walmart greeter at 80.

 

[travelover]

........ It would be horrible to be a Walmart greeter at 80.

It would be horrible to be a Walmart greeter at any age.

 

[Bir48die]

I respect anyone who works whether they are a Walmart greeter or are a CEO of a major Corp.

 

[street]

Pensions are huge. I had an old school mate I seen last summer and he told me, he would have to work well into his 60's. He actually had a higher paying profession then me and he is conservative person. He said he couldn't retire early because they didn't have a pension plan.

 

[Bir48die]

I'm sorry but this rubbed me the wrong way. I'm sure that it was in jest but I'm not on this forum to read posts demeaning parts of society. Be grateful and thankful, not condescending.

 

[Dtail]

Many folks on this site don't have a pension, or a relatively small one. Nevertheless, we retired early.
If things go south, one needs Plan B and possibly C and D even.

 

[aaronc879]

I don't know a single person who plans to retire early. Most people I work with plan to work until they are physically unable to. Most will then have to go on disability. Low to moderate income blue collar workers don't have a lot of options. I live far cheaper than most and fully expect to retire in my 50's even though at age 39 I still have not hit $50K gross income in any one year. Most people are unwilling to live on so little and will work until their bodies give out.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Birdie, what I meant is that it would be horrible at age 80 to be standing 5 days a week working. There is honor in all work.

 

[aaronc879]

Many folks on this site don't have a pension, or a relatively small one. Nevertheless, we retired early.
If things go south, one needs Plan B and possibly C and D even.

Seems majority of people on this forum are/were 6-figure earners. Shouldn't be difficult to retire early on a large income like that. Majority of the general public makes less than $50K/yr gross. Much harder to FIRE on that income with no pension.

 

[Dtail]

Seems majority of people on this forum are/were 6-figure earners. Shouldn't be difficult to retire early on a large income like that. Majority of the general public makes less than $50K/yr gross. Much harder to FIRE on that income with no pension.

Agree with you on that thought in general, but there have been some written threads of folks here never earning 100k.
HCOL vs. LCOL area also comes into play.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Also the field you work in matters. Despite 3 graduate degrees the most I ever made was 62k in human services.

 

[NW-Bound]

Seems majority of people on this forum are/were 6-figure earners. Shouldn't be difficult to retire early on a large income like that. Majority of the general public makes less than $50K/yr gross. Much harder to FIRE on that income with no pension.

Not every well-paid worker knows to save. I left behind many coworkers at megacorp who still toiled away.

 

[DEC-1982]

Seems majority of people on this forum are/were 6-figure earners. Shouldn't be difficult to retire early on a large income like that. Majority of the general public makes less than $50K/yr gross. Much harder to FIRE on that income with no pension.

Two parts to this, offense and defense. If you earn lots and spend it all without savings and investments, then it's hard to retire early.

 

[Pellice]

I guess this falls under the spending rubric, but I wonder whether some percentage of this is due to 1) those home equity loans which were pushed so hard before the crash (and I hear them being pushed again); and 2) second families that produce children.

A number of my peers have taken out home equity loans to change "dated" bathrooms and kitchens. From what I've seen, this improves the value of a house only slightly. But few seem willing to wait until they've saved up the necessary amount, thinking, I suppose, that there's no reason to deprive themselves of enjoying the updates for years.

And I look at the number of my colleagues who are supporting their second families into college right now, and I think that it is a significant factor in their continuing to work.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I was self employed and did not "retire" until I was 69. I didn't work that long because I had to but because I enjoyed working. DH retired in 2008 at the age of 62 and was delighted to retire at that point. Numerous friends of ours still work and are in their 70's. For the most part, they are self-employed. My point is, not everyone wants to retire early and not every older worker is employed because of financial reasons.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[bclover]

I'm sorry but this rubbed me the wrong way. I'm sure that it was in jest but I'm not on this forum to read posts demeaning parts of society. Be grateful and thankful, not condescending.

Me too Birdie, my dad was a retired NYC police officer He had way more money than he needed for his standard of living. He went back to work at Home depot. Why? he was a really handy guy, had lots of knowledge on fixing stuff and he loved, loved, loved the interaction with the trades guy.

He worked until he was about 78 and the guys loved him, customers loved him. when he passed home depot showed up and out. huge floral arrangement and a donation made in his honor.

I hate the "elitist" attitude people here display from time to time, not often but every once in a while it pops out.

 

[bclover]

I think pensions are a huge factor. My pension was cut halfway through my working career. So in my 40's I then had to play catch up, which pretty much meant a severe cut in living. it sucked.

one thing that I don't fully agree with is the working if you can to 70. lol, I'm late 50's and I've already had one knee replacement and the other knee is shot and just biding it's time until it gets replaced.

More times than not apersons health may not let them work until 70.

lastly I know too many people who worked until late 60's and 70's only to die a few years later.

 

[Jerry1]

Most of our friends won’t retire until between 60-66. I still work part time by choice at 64. It would be horrible to be a Walmart greeter at 80.

It would be horrible to be a Walmart greeter at any age.

I respect anyone who works whether they are a Walmart greeter or are a CEO of a major Corp.

I'm sorry but this rubbed me the wrong way. I'm sure that it was in jest but I'm not on this forum to read posts demeaning parts of society. Be grateful and thankful, not condescending.

Birdie, what I meant is that it would be horrible at age 80 to be standing 5 days a week working. There is honor in all work.

Me too Birdie, my dad was a retired NYC police officer He had way more money than he needed for his standard of living. He went back to work at Home depot. Why? he was a really handy guy, had lots of knowledge on fixing stuff and he loved, loved, loved the interaction with the trades guy.

He worked until he was about 78 and the guys loved him, customers loved him. when he passed home depot showed up and out. huge floral arrangement and a donation made in his honor.

I hate the "elitist" attitude people here display from time to time, not often but every once in a while it pops out.

I think the phrase “working as a Walmart greeter” is just a euphemism for a job that a senior citizen is forced to take in their later years in order to survive. I don’t think it’s meant to disrespect the work as much as try to convey the sad situation that a senior citizen has found themselves in. Of course, if the senior citizen just does it because they want to be busy, that’s a different matter. I don’t go to Walmart often, but I don’t recall them actually having greeters. It’s not a reflection on honest work which I hope we all honor, it’s a way to convey a situation the person has found themselves in.

If I say I don’t want to end up “living in a van down by the river”, is that disrespectful to RV’ers or homeless people? It communicates a situation.

 

[Dtail]

^^^^ +1
For Publix, we see the elderly baggers. I think about it every time.

 

[HadEnuff]

when I was in my 30s, I dreamed of retiring by 55, mostly because from that perspective, another 30 years seemed like a mountain impossible to climb. I could have stopped working at 55 and found a way to make ends meet, but that seemed more like "dropping out" than retiring. In my mind "retirement" meant no longer working, but maintaining or even increasing/improving my lifestyle, not cutting costs.

I'm not saying that should be everyone's mindset, just explaining it was mine. When I started reading and participating on this forum, there was a part of me that felt as though I'd somehow missed the boat by not planning better, saving better, investing more effectively etc in my 20s, 30s, and 40s so I could have "retired comfortably" in my 50s. However, now that I'm 65, and nearing 3 years of retirement behind me, I have a different opinion.

I spend enough time wondering what my next course of action should be, to be glad that I stayed working that extra 7 -10 years.
My point here is that the world of this FIRE Early Retirement Forum is a very small sub-set of humanity. And those who managed and decided to retire before the age of 60 constitute an even smaller sub-set.
I'm not surprised at all that fewer people are willing, or able to retire young. One assumes a lot of risk when one does it, and face it, many of those who did retire in their 30s or 40s won't know for another 30 or 40 years if that decision was a good one, or a disastrous one.

 

[athena53]

I guess this falls under the spending rubric, but I wonder whether some percentage of this is due to 1) those home equity loans which were pushed so hard before the crash (and I hear them being pushed again); and 2) second families that produce children.

A number of my peers have taken out home equity loans to change "dated" bathrooms and kitchens. <snip>

A really nice guy from my HS class (we're 65) remarried after his first wife died. Second wife was considerably younger and-surprise!- they ended up with 2 kids. Both are in grade school now. Sadly, his wife developed chronic health issues and can't work FT and the marriage broke up except that if they divorce she won't be able to stay on his health insurance. I hear he's having a hard time getting dates. I don't see him retiring any time soon.

And totally agreed on the home equity loans. There are people who weren't able to save because they were a one-income family with a few kids and low-income jobs, or whose finances were stressed by long periods of unemployment or large uninsured medical expenses, and there are people who could have made better decisions with what they had.

I think the phrase “working as a Walmart greeter” is just a euphemism for a job that a senior citizen is forced to take in their later years in order to survive. I don’t think it’s meant to disrespect the work as much as try to convey the sad situation that a senior citizen has found themselves in.

I interpreted it that way, too. It would be sad having to work at anything out of financial necessity, especially jobs that have heavy physical requirements, when you're in your 70s and 80s. If you do it for the social interaction and because you enjoy it, that's different.

 

[street]

I think the phrase “working as a Walmart greeter” is just a euphemism for a job that a senior citizen is forced to take in their later years in order to survive. I don’t think it’s meant to disrespect the work as much as try to convey the sad situation that a senior citizen has found themselves in. Of course, if the senior citizen just does it because they want to be busy, that’s a different matter. I don’t go to Walmart often, but I don’t recall them actually having greeters. It’s not a reflection on honest work which I hope we all honor, it’s a way to convey a situation the person has found themselves in.

If I say I don’t want to end up “living in a van down by the river”, is that disrespectful to RV’ers or homeless people? It communicates a situation.

Exactly, no harm should meant.