10 Reasons to Delay Retirement

Your finances, social life, and even your marriage could benefit from working longer

July 18, 2011 RSS Feed Print

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[See The Workers Most Likely to Delay Retirement.]

Give something back. Many people approaching retirement have knowledge and skills they would like to pass on to the next generation. Some people would also like to leave a legacy for their children or the community that supported them throughout their career. One way to do this is to continue to work or volunteer in some capacity.

Flexible scheduling. When you have some money coming in from other sources such as Social Security, a pension, or your savings, you can afford to work less. Many people say they want to work part-time (25 percent) or cycle between periods of work and leisure (36 percent) in retirement, Harris Interactive found. Only 30 percent of those surveyed never want to work for pay again, and just 4 percent want to work full-time in retirement. "When people leave their career jobs, most of them don't leave the labor force at the same time," says Quinn. "They move to some other job that is of shorter duration than their career job, perhaps working three days a week or six months a year, doing something completely different." If you only need to put in 20 hours per week, delaying retirement doesn't sound so bad.

Twitter: @aiming2retire

Tags:: 401(k),; retirement

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HealthView Services ( www.hvsfinancial.com ) provides us with a few scenarios to show why retiring later can be beneficial or it can hurt.
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Person age 60. Lives to 90. Lives in Ohio (national average). Healthy. Wants full coverage.
1) Retires at 65: This person can expect to pay roughly $360,500 out of their own pocket throughout the course of retirement. That is an average of $1,200 per month.
2) Retires at 69: This person can expect to pay roughly $339,000 out of their own pocket throughout the course of retirement.
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One effect that delaying retirement can have is an increase in your social security, which can consequently bring bump your income up to the next bracket above $85k. Once you hit a higher bracket, it takes a serious disaster such as a spouse's death or a natural disaster to go back down.
With that being said, if the same guy makes $85,001 then:
1) Retires at 65: pays roughly $423,500
2) Retires at 69: pays roughly $398,000
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If you delay retirement, it may end up costing you more. Be careful and always be aware of your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI)

Mike of MA 4:10PM July 21, 2011

Being self employed, the concept of retirement often seems like a fairy tale.
I think I would go crazy with boredom and will always need to be involved with something.
Reading the book mentioned by others above "Don't retire, reinvent yourself" has shown me how to start a plan to create the final phase of this journey called life.
It won't be sitting in a rocking chair, that's for sure!!

David Everitt of MI 7:05AM July 21, 2011

And also, remember that if you're in a 401(k) plan, they might allow you to roll your IRA balances INTO the plan. And then, if you're still working beyond age 70½, you can avoid minimum distributions from the rolled-in IRAs because they're part of a qualified plan where you continue to work (but not own more than 5% of the sponsor)

Brian of CT 3:28PM July 19, 2011