Behind The Mic With Joe Mathieu: Delaying Retirement For More Than Money

BOSTON (CBS) – And here I thought it was always about the money.

After all, we hear lots of stories about people delaying retirement because they failed to save enough.

And that is still the primary reason why 58-percent of workers 60 and older tell researchers they are putting off retirement.

But the survey, conducted by Harris Poll for CareerBuilder and published in USA Today, finds there are many other reasons why people are working later in life than they may have planned.

Indeed, 61-percent say they still show up for work every day because they need health insurance and other benefits. Others say they've decided to keep working because, God forbid, they actually like their jobs.

Interestingly, women in that age group are more likely to delay retirement than men.

But the idea of people putting off retirement so they can keep their benefits seems to fly in the face of what we've been hearing about the impact of health care reform.

A recent report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts some 2 million people would choose to work fewer hours – or not at all – because they would no longer need a job just to get health care.

And as more people sign up for benefits through state and federal exchanges this year, we'll find out if that's actually true.

Follow Joe on Twitter @joemathieuwbz

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