Posted on 10/06/2010 6:28:22 AM PDT by Graybeard58
Many cite health-care costs, declining 401(k) as reason for working longer
Fears over health-care costs and savings shortfalls have led two in five U.S. workers to delay their planned retirement date, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The survey of more than 9,000 workers by consultants Towers Watson found that 40 percent plan to retire later than they did two years ago. Most expected to work three years longer than they'd planned. » Click to enlarge image "I don't have retirement, insurance, nothing. It's impossible to think of having enough to retire," said Djibril Ahmed, a 51-year-old Chicago cab driver. (Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)
PHOTO GALLERY
How are your retirement plans looking?
Older workers -- with less time to make up shortfalls in their shrunken 401(k) accounts -- and those in poor health, who rely more heavily on their employer's health insurance plan, are the most likely to have postponed retirement, the study found.
Among the sick, 45 percent said they now expect to work longer than they did in 2008, while more than two-thirds of over-50s who plan to delay retirement cited keeping their healthcare coverage as a key factor.
"It's unfortunate that the people who need retirement the most are the people who can least afford it," retirement consultant David Speier said.
The survey also showed that almost twice as many workers are paying off debt than they were last year, and that almost twice as many are reviewing how much they need to save for retirement.
Half of all respondents cut their daily spending, while six in 10 over-50s delaying retirement cited poorly performing 401(k)s as a factor.
The economic downturn means more than half of all workers are willing to accept larger paycheck deductions in return for guaranteed retirement benefits, the survey found.
Its for OLD people.
The recent divorce didn't help my financial state, but it certainly helped my mental and physical state and will probably extend my life.
Finally, retirement can be a death sentence if you don't have a second career in mind. I plan to retire at about 70 and become a full-time cabinet maker.
I'm 65, sometimes I feel old and sometimes not but I retired 11 years ago and have never regretted it once.
To each his/her own, retire when you think you want to and are able to, or work 'til death.
I’ll retire the day my youngest graduates from college, which hopefully is only five years away.
Glad I thought ahead.
They cited a stat today on Fox that 77% of people are now living paycheck to paycheck - how can any of those people hope to retire?
“delaying retirement”
Obvious consequence of living longer. Otherwise you’d be expecting your fellow citizens to support you for more and more years after age 65. Makes no sense.
Actually, I’m delaying my retirement now because of the weak economy and the low current value of my vast financial holdings.
BS, sir. I've been retired for 13 years and am in great health with a corresponding outlook on life. I have interests which consume a lot of my time, especially increasing my knowledge of a plethora of subjects by reading books and spending some time on FR. I get exercise by cutting and splitting wood and walking my dog through the wood paths I maintain.
People like you who rely on someone else to tell them what to do (which we call a "job") lack imagination. That, and not the time provided by retirement, is your impediment.
Sounds like a pretty good second career to me!
And, I am happy to have given you a target for your curmudgeonly wrath. I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I make a stranger's day!
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