More Americans 'unretiring'

October 26, 2010 at 08:00 PM
Share & Print

Unretirement is defined as working at least 20 hours per week after the age when one is eligible for Social Security benefits. The October Sun Life Unretirement Index found more Americans are continuing to work past the traditional retirement age, less are financially confident and many will show their discontent by voting out incumbent seats. Sun Life created the Index to learn more about the reasons why Americans are choosing to "unretire." Key findings were:

More than 80 percent of working Americans think it will take them at least three years to rebuild their retirement savings as a result of the economic crisis, up from 64 percent a year ago.

Fifty-two percent of workers think they'll need to continue working for at least three years longer than planned.

One fifth of American workers think they'll never recover their losses from the crisis.

"Seventy is the new 65″: The same amount of people think they'll retire at 70, instead of the traditional age of 65.

Forty-two percent are confident they will now be able to take care of basic living expenses in retirement.

Only one in four have strong confidence they will be able to take care of their medical expenses.

More than half say they plan to vote against an incumbent in mid-term elections, regardless of party, because of their financial insecurity.

The Index also shows Americans are reducing spending from cancelling vacations to delaying medical procedures:

Seventy-seven percent are cutting back on holiday shopping.

Seventy-two percent are putting off a large purchase, such as a car or home improvement.

Fifty-seven percent are canceling travel or vacation plans.

Twenty-nine percent delayed a routine or elective medical procedure.

Source: Sun Life Financial

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Related Stories

Resource Center