Stan Choe, The Associated Press 1:01 p.m. ET May 10, 2017
NEW YORK — Retire by your
mid-60s? How 1960s.
More Americans age 65 and over
are still punching the clock, and the last time the percentage was this high
was when John F. Kennedy was in the White House.
Last month, 19% of Americans age
65 and over were still working, according to government data released Friday.
That's the highest rate since 1962, and it caps a long trend higher since the
figure bottomed out at 10% in 1985.
As America grows older and as
life expectancy gets longer, some workers keep heading to the office because
they like it and still feel engaged. But many others are continuing to work for
a simpler, darker reason: They can't afford not to.
More than a quarter of workers
age 55 or older say they have less than $10,000 in savings and investments,
according to the latest retirement confidence survey by the Employee Benefit
Research Institute. Perhaps because of slim nest eggs, nearly a third of
workers in that age group say they expect to work until at least 70, if they
retire at all.
Older workers still heading for
jobs may also be the lucky ones. Many older Americans would like to work but
say they can't find a job, whether because they lack the skills or because
employers are looking for someone younger. The unemployment rate for workers age
65 and over was 3.7% last month. That's a tick higher than its median over the
last 30 years, though it's down from earlier this year.
The numbers may rise still
higher, critics say.
Congress this past week voted to
overturn a federal rule designed to help states give more workers access to
retirement savings plans.
Several states have been pushing
to create their own plans to get more workers into plans like a 401(k) that
automatically deduct savings from each paycheck. Low-income workers tend to
have much less access to savings plans through their jobs.
Republicans and players in the
investment industry, though, argue that the state-run plans could end up being
much more expensive than imagined and would water down safeguards in place to
protect investors.
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