“Working Retirement”

September 6, 2010 · Filed Under Uncategorized 

Until recently, retirement was an either-or proposition. Either you retired, or you worked. Now an increasing number of Baby Boomers and seniors find themselves somewhere in between, either returning to work after a few years of full retirement, or working part-time, in the oxymoronic stage known as a “working retirement.”

This is a “new life stage,” says Cathy Weatherford, president and chief executive of the Insured Retirement Institute. In a 2010 study that looked at the work patterns of retirees, the Urban Institute found that 26% of men and 29% of women born from 1933 through 1937 had re-entered the workforce in a full-time or nearly full-time position after retirement, compared to 20% of men and 22% of women born two decades earlier.

Full-time retirement is simply more difficult than it was a generation ago. It’s certainly more expensive. Many employers have reduced or eliminated retiree health benefits, and the full retirement age for Social Security benefits (66) is higher than it once was – with more increases on the table. Would-be retirees can play some financial defense as well: The longer you can make money, the less you need to dip into your retirement savings, which has the added benefit of allowing recession-damaged portfolios a little more time to recover.

http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/retirement/how-to-find-a-job-in-retirement/

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