3 Reasons Why You May Never Retire

In today’s changing work culture, retirement is no longer a certainty.

Elderly couple together at the kitchenTraditionally, retirement was something that was more or less expected. You put in the extra hours while you were young so that you would have the freedom to do whatever you wanted in your later years. However, various cultural and economic factors have led to a change in this traditional retirement model.

According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as noted by Bloomberg, approximately 20% of Americans over the age of 65 are still working.  Twelve percent don’t ever plan on retiring. Given the immense size of the baby boomer generation, this means that the U.S. work force is older than ever before.

Why might you end up working past the traditional retirement age?

1. You Have No Savings

Bloomberg mentions that baby boomers more frequently don’t have any retirement savings to speak of. They were hit by both the tech bust of the late ‘90s and the financial crisis of the mid 2000s, losing what little savings they had just to pay the bills.

Our white paper covers the Baby Boomer retirement situation more in depth.

Millennials are already encountering similar difficulties. As noted by CNBC, a recent survey from finance website NerdWallet found that millennials generally need to save 22% of their pay to have a successful retirement. Other experts say it should be something more like 15 %.

One thing they all agree on is that the earlier you start preparing for retirement, the better. However, millennials are generally unable to save such a high percentage of their income. This is due to a combination of a fairly high cost of living combined with the need to pay off expensive student loans as quickly as possible.

2. You Love Your Job

Many people simply enjoy working.  It gives them a sense of purpose— that they’re truly accomplishing something. They love their work family and environment, and managers go the extra mile to make the office feel like home. The money and benefits don’t hurt either. Work is what you know, work is what you like, and work is what you’re good at. So why not stay in the workforce just a bit longer?

3.  You Have Heavy Debt

Many people choose to stay in the workforce so that they can continue to pay off their debt. They can’t budget enough savings. Given the increased costs of education and housing, as well as the aforementioned tech bust and the financial crisis, it can be hard to allocate funds to a retirement account. Instead of paying off loans and saving at the same time, many workers choose to pay off their loans first. This results in a fairly significant loss of savings.

Retirement isn’t for everyone.

And that’s okay! Some people can’t afford to retire in the first place. Others find retirement dull. And still others want to keep working because they love it.

Regardless of whether you’re just starting out or are looking for a career change later in life, we’re here to help. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, Express Employment Professionals is a leading staffing provider in the U.S. and Canada. We employed a record 510,000 people in 2016. If you have any questions about the job search, feel free to contact your local Express office or create an express account to apply for jobs online.

Do you plan on working past traditional retirement age? Let us know your reasons why in the comments below!