Greetings! I trust that this will find you well and in good health.
Merrill Lynch recently published its study, “The New Retirement Workscape,” on new trends retirees have embraced toward working. One of the more interesting trends is that new retirees are taking the first few years of retirement off and then going back to work after checking off some of the items on their bucket lists.
According to the report, more than 50 percent of working retirees take a “career intermission” lasting an average of 2.5 years. Three out of five retirees then pursue a different career when they go back to work. This next phase of retirement, referred to as “re-engagement,” tends to last an average of nine years.
While 20 percent of today’s retirees work for financial reasons, 80 percent do so because they want to. Compared to pre-retirees, working retirees are more likely to:
• Work part-time (83% vs. 17%)
• Be self-employed (32% vs. 11%)
• Volunteer 20+ hours a week (13% vs. 1%)
Better yet, most working retirees say their work is less boring, less stressful, and far more flexible, fun and fulfilling than their pre-retirement careers. Among the more driven retiree workers, 39 percent become “retire-preneurs” — owning a business or working for themselves. Many who are workaholics during their career continue to be during retirement.
Among pre-retirees over the age of 50, 72 percent report that their ideal retirement will include work. This trend may serve to improve the quality of life even more for seniors. The survey reports that 83 percent of retirees believe that working has helped them stay more youthful and report higher levels of feeling proud, intellectually stimulated and socially connected to others than non-working retirees.
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