Many Americans will work past 65. Here’s the payoff

[rangerrebew]

Many Americans will work past 65. Here’s the payoff

Published: June 28, 2017 4:57 a.m. ET
 

By
Richard
Eisenberg

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org.

Millions of American workers in their 50s and 60s want, or need, to keep working past the traditional retirement age of 65 — either part-time or full time. But after attending Columbia University’s 2017 Age Boom Academy program for journalists, Exploring Inequities in Health, Work and Retirement, I’ve learned how difficult (if not impossible) that can be for many of them.

But I also learned from the international Age Boom Academy experts that there are a few things employers, the U.S. government and older workers could do to make staying employed for additional years of our longer lives a more likely reality. The time is right: By 2020, one in four American workers will be over 55.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/many-americans-will-work-past-65-heres-the-payoff-2017-06-28

[Elderberry]

I read about a study years ago. The subjects all worked for Boeing and Lockheed. I was working for Lockheed at the time so it drew my interest. It was found that on average a worker lost a year of his life expectancy for every year that he worked past 55. I think it was due to the stress of working for years on govt contracts.(Middle income welfare?).

It can be hard to put away for one's retirement, but I tried. So when this old Space Shuttle worker got the axe at 62, I was ready and retired. About a year later they called, twisted my arm, and brought me back as an independent contractor for a limited time. I kicked myself the whole time. The money was good, but I'd tasted freedom. I was glad when that was done. I worked my whole life to retire and now I'm there. While I was still working after I received my layoff notice, I was thinking "I'll be as free as I was before kindergarten". I'm not that free, but I'm happy to be retired.

[thackney]

I read about a study years ago. The subjects all worked for Boeing and Lockheed. I was working for Lockheed at the time so it drew my interest. It was found that on average a worker lost a year of his life expectancy for every year that he worked past 55. I think it was due to the stress of working for years on govt contracts.(Middle income welfare?).

It can be hard to put away for one's retirement, but I tried. So when this old Space Shuttle worker got the axe at 62, I was ready and retired. About a year later they called, twisted my arm, and brought me back as an independent contractor for a limited time. I kicked myself the whole time. The money was good, but I'd tasted freedom. I was glad when that was done. I worked my whole life to retire and now I'm there. While I was still working after I received my layoff notice, I was thinking "I'll be as free as I was before kindergarten". I'm not that free, but I'm happy to be retired.

I have a hard time imaging stop all paying work at 65.  But I do expect that before then I'll be passing up more OT requests.  Likely a part-time contractor past that age, picking and choosing jobs to work and jobs to pass up.

[Night Hides Not]

I see myself doing a variety of things when I turn 65 in a couple of years. Perhaps working part-time doing tax returns, working at a wine bar, substitute teaching, or even a few days a week at Luby's.

My wife is really worried about retirement, for financial reasons. I'm not, because of our pensions and social security, plus nearly $250K in home equity (owned the house for 20 years). We're in a good location, and we're in the midst of updating the house, and I'm not worried about a steep decline in the local market. In a couple of years, we'll be down to the mortgage and car payments, which I can more than handle on my side.

I think most of it is she can't say no to her family, which I don't really mind. My youngest will head to college in a few years, but I want him to go to a local CC for the first two years, to mature and get his prerequisites out of the way. If he's like the typical HS student, he won't be prepared for the rigors of a 4 year university. His older siblings avoided the University of Dallas, a Jesuit university, because they both heard it was "too hard." With an attitude like that, one needs to start at a CC. I worked my butt off at Gonzaga and had a great experience.