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Boomers Plan to Keep Working, But Eventually Retire
Results of new survey research by Merrill Lynch released earlier this year confirm that baby boomers plan on foregoing the leisure time of a traditional retirement so that they can keep on working and earning, while cycling in more time off.
The Merrill Lynch survey, which was co-authored by noted gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, suggests that boomers will have more earnings, savings and investment-compounding years than previous generations, and will not have to tap retirement savings as their primary source of income until much later.
“The New Retirement Survey” was conducted by Harris Interactive in collaboration with Age Wave. Among the findings:
- While 76% of the boomers surveyed said they intend to keep working and earning during their retirement years, on average they expect to leave their current job or career at around age 64 and then pursue something new.
- Sixty-five percent of the boomers do plan on retiring at some point, but they are more likely to begin this phase of their lives in their late 60s than the current age of 60-65.
- When asked about their ideal work arrangement in retirement, the most common choice for boomers would be to “cycle” between periods of work and leisure (42%), followed by part-time work (16%), their own business (13%) and full-time work (6%). Only 17% said that they hoped they would never have to work again.
- While 37% said that a paycheck was a very important part of why they would keep on working, 67% said they were looking for mental stimulation and challenge.
- With deep concerns for the well-being of their children, boomers are now 10 times more likely to “put others first” (43%) than “put themselves first” (4%).
- The costs of healthcare and illness are boomers’ biggest fear. They are three times more worried about a major illness (48%), their ability to pay for healthcare (53%) or winding up in a nursing home (48%) than about dying (17%).
- Married boomer women are now six times more likely to share responsibility for savings and investments compared to their mothers’ generation (33% now vs. 5% then).
- Boomer men are looking forward to working less, relaxing more and spending more time with their spouse. While boomer women will embrace opportunities for career development, community involvement and continued personal growth.
- The most decisive factor determining when baby boomers decide to retire is accumulating the resources they believe they will need (81%) rather than age (56%) or any other variable.
Merrill Lynch has also unveiled a new Retirement Illustrator, an online calculator that illustrates how the new stage of life in which boomers balance work and leisure changes financial planning assumptions.
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