April 3, 2009

Sixty percent of workers over age 60 delaying retirement

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Six in ten workers over age 60 are postponing plans to put their feet up, relax, and kiss the workforce goodbye, according to a CareerBuilder study released this March. Hardly surprising when you consider that anyone with a retirement account has seen it take a serious pounding this past year.

To arrive at this unfortunate statistic, CareerBuilder polled 8,000 U.S workers during November 2008.

Another finding of this survey: Seventy-three percent of workers over age 60 said that thanks to their incredible shrinking retirement funds, they'll need to work up to six more years to recoup their financial losses. However, on the somewhat brighter side, 24 percent of workers polled were hopeful they'd be able to regain their financial foothold with just an extra year or two in the workforce.

If you're not sure whether and when you'll be able to retire given the beating your long-term funds have recently taken, it's probably time to face the music, play with an online retirement calculator, and if you need help plotting your next steps, speak to a financial planner.

Readers, I'd love to hear from you on this one, as I'm Gen X and the retirement calculator I just fiddled with told me I'll be able to retire sometime around the year 2300.

Are you nearing or over age 60 and postponing retirement until you can replenish your savings? If so, do you plan to work full-time? Part-time? For yourself? For how many more years? If you care to share, please do so in the comments.

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com

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