Many Baby Boomers Plan To Retire Late

Retirement Trend Appears To Be Reversing Due To Financial Hardship

(CBS/AP)  As America's oldest baby boomers begin to ease into their 60s, most expect to delay retirement longer than their parents or grandparents.

That's good, because many can't afford to stop working anytime soon.

While the average boomer plans to retire from his full time job at age 63, nearly 80 percent say they’ll work on a part-time basis well beyond that, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

Two new reports portray aging boomers as better educated, with higher incomes and longer life expectancies than the generations that preceded them. They also have fewer children and are less likely to be married, leaving them with fewer options if they need help in their old age.

"That one child they had will be very valuable," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.

Frey is releasing a report Tuesday that says higher rates of divorce and separation could result in greater financial hardship for aging baby boomers. In 1980, about two-thirds of Americans age 55 to 64 lived in married-couple households. That percentage fell to less than 58 per cent in 2005.

Americans had been retiring at ever-younger ages since the growth of private pensions and Social Security began more than 50 years ago. However, the retirement trend appears to be reversing.

In 1950, nearly half of men 65 and older were still in the labor force, according to the Census Bureau. That percentage bottomed out in the 1980s at less than 16 per cent. It has since edged up to about 19 per cent, and experts believe it will increase even more as the oldest baby boomers reach 65.

Women work in much larger numbers earlier in life, but among those 65 and older, their participation in the labor force has remained steady at about 10 per cent since 1950.

In the U.S., there are about 78 million baby boomers, those born from 1946 to 1964. The oldest will turn 62 next year, the age at which they become eligible for Social Security benefits.

Some will continue working by choice - a government survey shows that most U.S. workers nearing retirement age want to gradually reduce their workload rather than abruptly stop.

Others will have to stay on the job as fewer companies offer health insurance to retirees and an alarming number of private pensions fail.

William Zinke had plenty of resources to retire when he reached his early 60s. He didn't want to stop working but did want to get away from the hectic pace of New York, where he ran a human resources firm. So Zinke moved his firm to Boulder, Colo., where the pace is more relaxed. Seventeen years later, at age 80, he continues to put in full work days.

"I've had a very good life," Zinke said. "I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I'm not done."

Zinke said he is fortunate to own his business and to be able to set his work schedule. He has formed a non-profit organization, the Center for Productive Longevity, that is working to encourage other employers to help older workers with flexible schedules and other accommodations.

"We need to change the way we think about retirement," Zinke said.

Carol Spriggs retired from the federal courts system at age 55. At 59, she’s back at work four days a week.

“I retired and after a few months I realized that I did not plan my retirement well,” Spriggs told CBS.

There are more than 37 million Americans 65 and older, a number that is expected to nearly double by 2030, according to the Census Bureau.

"I think there will be significant accommodations and incentives to get people to stay and work longer, and not lose that human capital," said Richard Suzman of the National Institute on Aging, a government research agency.

The agency is releasing a compilation of data Tuesday from the national Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing survey of older people by researchers at the University of Michigan.

The data paint a picture of aging baby boomers facing longer, more active lives, coupled with rising costs for health care and other services.

"People are living longer, and the extra years of life, which I think have been one of the crowning achievements of the last century, have to be financed somehow," Suzman said.

[rhs648]

What could be better for Israel, the United States, and the world than two terrorist groups killing each other? Both groups are evil and the world is better off without them. Hopefully, peaceful and forward looking Palestinians will demand an end to this insanity. Change and progress must come from within. It is time that the Palestinians start caring about their children's future. Neither of these groups can bring peace to the Paslestinians.

[ovandagr47]

This baby boomer was a public employee for 34 years, but in Florida the retirement pension is only 52% of the average salary for the last five years. Can you live on 52%? I was a math teacher in a public high school for 23 years and the behavior of the kids finally got so bad I left this year. Fortunately, there was a job waiting working with teachers as a naturalist teaching enviromental education strategies. I will continue working for at least 2 to 5 more years. Heck - I've got to! My health insurance is $1,000 a month! But at least I had an exit strategy. Most don't.

[rhs648]

Correction

The "me generation" baby boomers have failed to live within their means, save for the future, and provide for their own retirements. Instead, we need four automobiles, large homes, big screen tvs, expensive vacations, etc. Being of the old school, I still pick-up pennies from the ground. This is like earning one per cent interest on a dollar kept in the bank for one whole year. Thanks to discipline, planning, and hard work, it is my intent to retire at normal retirement age. This is not by accident.

[rhs648]

For many people, the fastest way to poverty is through divorce. Look at how many divorced women must work fulltime and raise the children too. Making divorce easy in America has simply added burdens to already overburdened women. Perhaps, making marriages work was really a better solution than easy divorces. It certainly makes good economic sense.

[cathaleen]

The problem is the baby boomers are supporting their children. After college the kids come back.
And even when their married they want to live with mom and dad so they can save money to buy a house. Nice!

[jantesh]

I think that as life expectanices grow and as the baby boomers have access to information about financial planning, retirement, health etc., they are able to make better educated choices about what they want to do. Social Security was never intended by FDR to be a source of income but a supplement to retirement income. This problem is felt in other countries like Japan, Scandanavian countries and most of Europe.

[incog-nito]

They didn't PLAN to retire late; they HAVE to. Nobody plans to retire late.

[tejasdemo]

What ?! You need money to retire ??!!

[random_radar]

Baby boomers didn't have as many kids, so now there are fewer workers to tax to support themselves in their old age. Social Security is a pyramid scheme, but it is failing because we aren't expanding the base of the pyramid.

One solution is to allow young immigrant workers to come here and fill the void left by a lack of children. But that means that the immigrants will one day inherit the nation. That is simple demographics.

If the elderly want someone to take care of them, they have to pay for it somehow and find someone to do it. So we will sell our nation to other people in exchange for services. That is simple economics. Foreign occupation, ownership, and control are the price we pay for not having children to inherit.

[weareone2]

What is going to happen is that business will get Congress to greatly increase the number of visas allowing people to come here to work from other countries, allowing business to discriminate even more against older people, so the jobs available to us will be low-paying, physically strenuous jobs. The anti-discrimination laws are useless. As HR people say, you can always find a reason not to hire someone. And thanks to the voters who voted for Reagan and Bush, we now have a Supreme Court who are inclined to favor big business.

[omega39-2009]

The baby boomers think they got it bad? Wait until the subsequent generations, those sold out by the cheap labor CEOs comes along. They will be dying of old age behind the counter of their minimum wage service jobs.