Most Younger Investors Find Post-Retirement Work Appealing

Other survey findings:

• Respondents plan to retire at a mean age of 62.
• They expect to live in retirement a mean 22 years.
• Seventy-seven percent anticipate tax rate increases between now and when they retire.
• Forty-three percent expect a part-time job to be a source of income during their retired years.

"Successfully navigating retirement is, in many ways, an exercise in striking a proper balance between things like work and leisure, saving and spending," Fahlund said. "We often recommend that people in their 60s who are on track with their savings not wait until they retire to start experimenting with activities they were planning."

Taking a practice run while still receiving wages and benefits can help pre-retirees financially, emotionally and psychologically, she said. And working longer allows investors to fund their activities with earned income, hold off tapping their retirement nest eggs and defer taking Social Security payments.

Fahlund added this caveat: Investors who choose this approach to retirement generally should use some of the money from their additional years of salary for the funding they need, and not dip into their accumulated savings.

As well, investors should strive to put their financial houses in order before they fully retire, including paying off their mortgages and other debts and purchasing any big-ticket items they think they might need or want in retirement.