The Changing Face of Retirement - yahoo.finance.com
For years, maybe decades, the common thinking on retirement was that you worked steadily, saved steadily, and when you reached that end-of-career marker — for many, age 65, but now 66 or 67 — you stepped off the treadmill and coasted into retirement. Claiming Social Security benefits earned during those career years was one of the decisions to be made at that point, although it wasn’t the biggest part of the equation, since, by design, it offset less than half of pre-retirement earnings. If the savings you’d accumulated during those career years, combined with Social Security benefits, enabled a comfortable lifestyle, you were all set.
But what if the financial equation fell short? For many, that’s the case and they elect to remain in the workforce. As reported in a yahoo.finance.com post by Don Lair, “19.1% of people age 65 and older were in the labor force, either working or looking for work.” Lair’s article explores the reasons for this, suggesting two categories applicable to those in this workforce cohort. One category can be described as those with financial need that employment addresses, while the other category comprises those who simply need employment “…to maintain social connections, purpose, and mental sharpness.”
Perhaps the central point in Lair’s article, which you can read in full here, is that no matter which category you think you might wind up in, careful planning is essential. Long-term estate planning will help when it’s time to make decisions, such as timing a Social Security benefits claim. Likewise, carefully assessing plans for shifting employment to less stressful work, either part-time in an unrelated field or with a current employer, can help pave the wave for a smooth transition.