Some Retirees Are Rejoining the Workforce
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your Money Briefing for Wednesday, February 21st. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal.
How many Americans are turning 65 and what does that mean for retirement demographics?
More than 4 million people in the U.S. will turn 65 this year. But a growing number of people are putting off full retirement and taking on part-time jobs.
The majority say it's for financial reasons. They feel like they don't have enough money or they're going to run out of money, a cost of living, inflation. That's the biggest reason they're going back. About a third of them also are just bored.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal columnist Claire Ansbury after the break.
More retirees are spending their golden years working part-time jobs. Wall Street Journal columnist Claire Ansbury joins me. Claire, give us the big picture about how many people are reaching retirement age this year.
More than 4 million Americans are going to reach 65 this year. And that translates into about 11,200 people a day. So a good chunk. And that high level is going to be sustained through 2027.
How many retirees are returning to work and which surveys measure this trend?
So a lot of people are reaching that age that we traditionally associate with retirement.
About how many retirees plan to go back to work?
Well, overall, about one-third of adults 65 to 69 have jobs, and that's up from less than a quarter in 2000. As to how many of those were retired and returned to work isn't clear, but Surveys suggest that it's a lot. One survey showed that one in eight people who are retired plan to go back to work this year.
Why are today's retirees more financially vulnerable than past generations?
And another survey found that one third of current retirees in this age are considering returning to work.
How are the finances of this current crop of retirees different from past generations?
In past generations, more retirees had these pensions. So they had guaranteed income that would support them through their life. But most of them don't have that now. So they are basing their retirement planning and their needs on their own savings. It's what they have. And that has to last them long because we're all living longer. And many of them are feeling they just don't have enough. They don't have that security. So that's why they're going back to work.
You spoke with several retirees who have gone back to work. Why are they doing that and what's their experience been?
The majority say it's for financial reasons.
What financial reasons do retirees give for going back to part-time work?
They feel like they don't have enough money or they're going to run out of money, a cost of living, inflation. That's the biggest reason they're going back. They're paying off debt. Some of their careers have been interrupted for caregiving. Others had to retire earlier than they expected because of layoffs or, again, ill relatives, so to care for them. So that's why they're going back. And about a third of them also are just bored.
Did the retirees that you spoke to say they went back into the fields that they were in during their careers?
Some of them have. There was a woman, Joyce Fleming, and she's 70 years old right now.
What kinds of jobs are retirees taking when they rejoin the workforce?
She's a nurse, and she retired in 2019. One reason she retired is she had a long and successful career and satisfying, but she was also commuting like over an hour back and forth to the hospital where she worked. She had just felt like, okay, I'm ready to retire again. And then the pandemic hit and she took care of her grandkids. And then after that was just seeing her costs rising. So she wanted to go back to a part-time job. And so she helped with a call center for about six months. And then she worked as a case manager at another hospital for a little over a year just to help pay the bills. And also because she wanted to do some traveling. But those jobs were also far away. So she really felt like she wanted...
a better paying job and one closer to home basically to help cover things like home improvement costs getting electrical work done just things to help with the house she said you know the cost of living after covid just skyrocketed and then i spoke with a 65 year old man from wisconsin he retired from a career as a journeyman who replaced glass windows on his 63rd birthday And the following month, he had another job. He was driving a school bus.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:10
2
How many Americans are turning 65 and what does that mean for retirement demographics?
0:10–1:25
3
How many retirees are returning to work and which surveys measure this trend?
1:25–1:53
4
Why are today's retirees more financially vulnerable than past generations?
1:53–2:41
5
What financial reasons do retirees give for going back to part-time work?
2:41–3:20
6
What kinds of jobs are retirees taking when they rejoin the workforce?
3:20–4:51
7
How are pre-retirees changing their plans in response to longer life expectancy and rising costs?
4:51–6:24
8
What practical retirement lessons should workers in their 40s and 50s learn from this trend?
6:24–7:59
Speakers
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