More Employed Seniors Plan on Working Past 65

More employees are remaining in the workforce past 65, not just for the income but many boomers aren’t ready for retirement and plan to stay active in their senior years.  For some, this may be a transition period starting a second career later in life.

According to a CBC News report in February 18, 2015, a Sun Life poll revealed that more than 60 per cent of respondents expect to be working at age 66;  in 2009 only 16 per cent expected to be working full time past 65.

Although many baby boomers entering retirement age plan to continue working past normal retirement age to maintain a good lifestyle, others are skeptical about whether their savings will last through an increasingly longer old age.  And some are pessimistic that the public pension system will be able to support the wave of seniors hitting 65 over the next 20 years.

According to Statistics Canada, the average age of retirement is 62 but that is likely about to change as people worry more about a long retirement and the expense of medical care.  Just 35 years ago, we could expect to live only an average of 7 years past retirement but today, that number could easily be 20 years or more.   Older adults want to remain engaged and able to afford an active, healthy and fulfilling retirement.

To learn more about the findings of the Canadian Unretirement Index visit: http://www.sunlife.ca/Canada/sunlifeCA/About+us/Canadian+Unretirement+Index?vgnLocale=en_CA&wt.ac=en-ca:Web:SLF_campaign:NationalNewsRelease:CUI:CUI_Homepage .