{"id":3844,"date":"2014-06-09T06:36:11","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T10:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=3844"},"modified":"2014-06-21T15:04:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-21T19:04:00","slug":"kerrys-expert-views-on-work-in-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=3844","title":{"rendered":"Kerry’s Expert Views On Work in Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"download\"<\/a>Busting the Myths About Work in Retirement<\/p>\n

posted by\u00a0Richard Eisenberg<\/a>, June 5, 2014\u00a0More by this author<\/a><\/h4>\n
The once-antithetical notion of working in retirement has become the new reality; Next Avenue blogger Chris Farrell calls it\u00a0Unretirement<\/a>. Now, a new Merrill Lynch study that surveyed 1,856 working retirees \u2014\u00a0Work in Retirement: Myths and Motivations<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u2014 shows why people are doing it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\nYou\u2019ll be surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n

Merrill Lynch was. \u201cThis work and retirement study blew us away,\u201d says David Tyrie, head of Retirement & Personal Wealth Solutions for\u00a0Bank of America Merrill Lynch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Turns out, retirees who workpart-time<\/a>\u00a0(in what the report calls Retirement FlexCareers) aren\u2019t doing it for the money \u2014 well not\u00a0mostly<\/em>\u00a0for the money for most of them, according to the survey, conducted in partnership with the\u00a0AgeWave<\/a>\u00a0consulting firm.<\/p>\n

(MORE<\/strong>:\u00a0Partial Retirement Is On the Rise<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Why People Work In Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n

The No. 1 reason they\u2019re working, the survey said, is \u201cto stay mentally active.\u201d Money was No. 4, after \u201cto stay physically active,\u201d \u201csocial connections\u201d and \u201csense of identity\/self worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

And 80 percent of the working retirees said they work because they \u201cwant to;\u201d 20 percent said they work because they \u201chave to.\u201d<\/p>\n

4 Types of Working Retirees<\/strong><\/p>\n

The importance of money, however, depended on which of the four camps the working retirees fell into:<\/p>\n

Caring Contributors<\/strong>\u00a0(33 percent) \u2014 Primarily women, they work to give back to their communities or to worthwhile causes, often at nonprofits and sometimes as unpaid volunteers. Many are in\u00a0encore careers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earnest Earners<\/strong>\u00a0(28 percent) \u2014 They need the income to pay the bills and are mostly unsatisfied with the work they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

Life Balancers<\/strong>\u00a0(24 percent) \u2014 They care mostly about workplace friendships and social connections, but also need the money.<\/p>\n

Driven Achievers<\/strong>\u00a0(15 percent) \u2014 Mostly men, they\u2019re\u00a0Type A<\/a>\u2019s who feel at the top of their game; many are entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

Three in five of the working retirees said retirement gave them an opportunity to \u201ctransition to something new,\u201d said Tyrie. Many are working for themselves and only 14 percent of them said it was because they couldn\u2019t find any other work.<\/p>\n

(MORE<\/strong>:\u00a0Starting a Side Gig After 50<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the amazing surprises in the survey,\u201d says Ken Dychtwald, President and CEO of AgeWave, \u201cis that people in their retirement careers are three times more likely to beentrepreneurs<\/a>\u00a0and small-business builders than young people.\u201d Some 32 percent of the working retirees surveyed are self-employed, compared with 11 percent of respondents who aren\u2019t retired.<\/p>\n

Nearly three quarters of the pre-retirees age 50 and older surveyed (72 percent) said their \u201cideal retirement\u201d includes work in some capacity.<\/p>\n

Not Everyone Can Work In Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n

But whether they\u2019ll actually be able and healthy enough to land jobs or start businesses is another question. In the latest annual Employee Benefits Research Institute\u00a0retirement confidence survey<\/a>, just 27 percent of retirees are working. (In the Merrill Lynch survey, 16 percent of retirees work, 19 percent worked earlier in retirement and 12 percent plan to work.)<\/p>\n

As Next Avenue money and work blogger\u00a0Kerry Hannon<\/a>\u00a0(author of\u00a0Great Jobs for Everyone 50+<\/a>)<\/em>\u00a0told me: \u201cIn a survey, workers will say one thing as they gaze down the road, but in the stark reality, it\u2019s another thing altogether.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

4 Phases of the ‘Retirement Workscape’<\/p>\n

Another surprise from the survey: the \u201cretirement workscape,\u201d as the report dubs it, is a series of four phases:<\/p>\n

Phase 1: Pre-Retirement<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 the five years (on average) before leaving full-time work. These are the years when Next Avenue work and volunteering blogger\u00a0Nancy Collamer<\/a>\u00a0says you should be \u201cactively exploring ways you might be able to leverage your skills in a more lifestyle-friendly way, as a freelancer, temp, consultant or entrepreneur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phase 2: Career Intermission<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 It’s the first 2 \u00bd years of retirement, on average, when retirees take a temporary break from working. \u201cIntermission is a good term,\u201d says Tyrie. \u201cIt\u2019s a time when you can stretch your legs and rejuvenate before going back in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phase 3: Reengagement\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 This period lasts for next nine years or so, when retirees who are typically in their late 60s and early 70s work part-time.<\/p>\n

Phase 4: Leisure\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 These are the work-free years. \u201cMost people don\u2019t want to work to their last breath,\u201d says Dychtwald.<\/p>\n

Concern About a Career Intermission<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hannon<\/strong> and I, however, offer caution about that Career Intermission, which 52 percent of the working retirees said they took.<\/p>\n

While it sounds enticing to take time to \u201crelax, recharge and retool,\u201d as Merrill Lynch and Age Wave call this period, once you\u2019ve stopped working, some employers won\u2019t consider you. And the longer you\u2019re out of the workforce, the harder it gets.<\/p>\n

As Dychtwald says: \u201cTrying to get a job can take twice as long if you\u2019re over 55 as if you\u2019re younger.\u201d<\/p>\n

(MORE<\/strong>:\u00a0Does ‘Out of Work’ Mean Damaged Goods?<\/a>)<\/p>\n

To make yourself the strongest candidate, the working retirees surveyed recommended keeping your skills up to date; 44 percent who\u2019d taken a break when they first retired said their biggest challenge re-entering the workforce was that their skills had slipped.<\/p>\n

This is one reason some people in their 50s and 60s start their own businesses or become consultants.<\/p>\n

How to Prepare for a Working Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re nearing retirement, Tyrie and Dychtwald say, use that time to expand your business network, take classes,\u00a0volunteer<\/a>\u00a0or \u2014 if you can \u2014 work part-time in a field related to the one you want to be in. Also, they say, talk with working retirees to see how they\u2019ve done it.<\/p>\n

Collamer believes this is all good advice but adds that \u201cit\u2019s also important to make time for introspection and reflection about what you love, what you do best and what you find most meaningful in life and work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, she says, \u201cyou\u2019ll make decisions based on a lifetime of data, as opposed to ones made in reaction to your most recent life and work experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also seconds the Merrill Lynch\/Age Wave advice to talk with your employer before you retire to explore opportunities for continued work there on a more flexible basis.<\/p>\n

Says Collamer: \u201cDon\u2019t assume your employer doesn\u2019t have anything. You might be pleasantly surprised. A part-time gig with your current employer might serve as a bridge to your next act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Benefits of Working in Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hannon is a big believer that working in retirement (if you can) keeps you alive intellectually, financially and spiritually. Another plus: 83 percent of the working retirees said it makes them feel \u201cmore youthful.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry if the first type of work you do in retirement isn\u2019t a perfect match. \u201cYou might have a couple of new careers moving forward,\u201d says Hannon. \u201cI see it as weaving a quilt of jobs that pay, have meaning and make you feel connected and alive.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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