Retirement age not getting any closer

The silver lining here is that we've got plenty of opportunities to help people do a much better job of planning and saving for retirement – even if it is five years later than they originally hoped.

Less than one in four working Americans are very confident they will be able to live the kind of life they want in retirement – a compelling indicator that Americans must re-examine their savings strategies if they are to attain a sound financial future.

"Unfortunately, Sun Life's findings released [Oct. 22] paint a troubling picture for the millions of American workers planning for retirement," says Cathy Weatherford, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI). "Not only has confidence significantly eroded in their own ability to fund their retirement, but Americans have grown increasingly pessimistic about the state of Social Security. With more than 40% of workers lacking confidence they will receive Social Security benefits when they retire, it is imperative that Americans revisit and revise their retirement savings strategies."

Sun Life defines Unretirement as working at least 20 hours per week after the age when one is eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Sun Life created this Index to learn more about the reasons why Americans are choosing to "unretire," or continue to work full- or part-time after the age of traditional retirement. For the complete Unretirement Index results, visit www.unretirementindex.com.