A recent WSJ article highlighted findings from a Gallup survey indicating that a majority of people hope to work later in life. Here’s the reality.

In fact, the average retirement age is 61, with only 4% of seniors working until the age of 70 or older. A survey by the Federal Reserve also found that only 7% of retirees claimed that they received income from a job.

Gloomy stats if you are like the vast majority of Americans who haven’t been able to save enough money in a defined contribution plan to retire.  The idea that one can defer saving for retirment until later or continue to work to stretch out retirement savings has proven to be a pipe dream for most.

The demise of the DB pension has certainly stressed the finances for many retirees.  We’ve often written about the social and economic consequences of our failure to adequately prepare our employees for retirement.  The inability to extend one’s time in the workforce is just compounding this issue.