Less Than 20% over 65 are Able to Find Work

Today's tip from professional financial advisors: "Be Prepared to make LESS money – a LOT LESS." For those close to retirement age who are planning on working because they didn't save enough or don't have enough to be able to out-live their money, this should be YOUR WAKE-UP CALL.  Finding new employment may not be as simple as you think, as this USAToday article tells us.  ...Dennis

How realistic is planning to work in retirement?

For you pre-retirees who didn’t save enough and are planning to work in retirement to help pay for your golden years, you may be in for a rude awakening.

Oh, and you pre-retirees who have saved enough money but just want to continue to work because you want to be engaged, you, too, may be in for a rude awakening.

The fact is, only a small percentage of people who plan to work in retirement are actually able to do it.

“The portion of pre-retirees who say they expect to work in retirement is very high,” between 60% and 80%, says Sara Rix, strategic policy adviser at the AARP Public Policy Institute in Washington. But the reality is that the proportion of people who actually work in retirement is much lower.

In 2012, only 18.2% of people 65 and older were working. While that’s up significantly from 10.8% in 1985, Rix says it’s a lot lower than the number who expected to work. “One reason is the difficulty that older workers face, the barriers to trying to find new employment,” she says. “Discrimination remains a problem even though we can’t tap into specific numbers.”

The other huge issue for retires wanting and hoping to continue working is health. A recent study of Boomers by MetLife Market Institute found that health issues were the reason 17% of older Boomers retired, Rix says.

Full Article: