Baby Boomers: Retire Or Rehire

BOSTON (CBS) - The average age for retirement nationwide is 63. But here in Massachusetts folks chose to work longer and retire at 65.

Eighty percent of Boomers say they plan to work in retirement, many because they will have to. Working is part of many pre-retiree's retirement planning.

The most current records I could find are from 2014, the national labor force participation rate for those 65 years and older was 19% and drops to 8% for those over 75.  That does not correlate with the 80% of Boomers who want to continue working.

And if you have been working in a physically taxing job or are in poor health you may not be able to continue working as you age.

According to another survey, 40% of Americans believe the economic climate will force them to retire up to 10 years later than originally expected or not at all, but again when we look at who is actually working that is not the case.

The jobs most likely needing the graying population will be in sectors such as health care, education, retail and social services.

A Phased retirement is where you slowly ease your way into retirement. Is cutting back at your present job feasible? Can you work part time for your present employer? Working 2-3 days a week instead of 5. Often times the employer will still offer health care to a part time employee.

Consider a bridge job which is something that will take you from your working career into full retirement, a transition job. Could be very different from what you have been doing during your working career.

Some retirees find work at Wal-Mart, Home Depot and McDonald's. If you have been to Disney World recently you noticed that the Disney employee's average age is no longer 20 but more like 60! I was visiting the Kennedy Space Center in February and I did not see one employee under 60, including the bus drivers. They have found that retirees make good employees and are reliable.

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You can hear Dee Lee's expert financial advice on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 each weekday at 1:55 p.m., 3:55 p.m., and 7:55 p.m.

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