57% of Americans Expect to Work in Retirement

According to research by the Stanford Center on Longevity, the median retirement savings for pre-retirees and retirees is $128,000, meaning that most won’t have sufficient funds to retire full-time at age 65.

But seniors may have to work during their golden years if they don’t have sufficient retirement funds. To examine Americans’ expectations and attitudes around retirement work, we surveyed 1,043 adults on the subject.

Check out our study below to learn more about Americans’ expectations, motivators, and concerns for working in retirement.

When American respondents were asked whether they expected to work during retirement, about 57% reported they would. 43.43% reported they expect to work part-time, while 13.61% expect to work full-time.

Men were about 7% more likely than women to plan to work during retirement. While about 61% of men planned to work either part- or full-time in retirement, only 54% of women felt the same way.

As adults approach retirement age, their expectation to work goes up. Adults ages 30–60 were 10% more likely to expect to work during retirement than those ages 18–29. This might suggest that the typical American can’t stay on track with their retirement plans over a long period.

Between recession fears, high inflation and layoffs across certain economic sectors, we wanted to learn more about how the past two years have impacted American retirement plans.

Over the last two years, about 3 in 10 people have stayed on track with their retirement plans. An additional ~14% even plan to retire earlier than expected.

On the other hand, 26% of our respondents report planning to retire later than they expected, and 18% will retire with less savings than expected. Perhaps more concerning, roughly 12% of our respondents do not expect to retire at all.

The number of people falling behind on their retirement plans could be partly due to not using sufficient professional planning. According to the Stanford Center on Longevity, the most common retirement planning resource Americans used was their own instincts at 72%.

To learn more about the main reasons people will be working during retirement, our respondents reported the following answers.

About 54% of respondents reported that affording costs of living would be their main motivator for working during retirement, but many respondents also had personal or recreational reasons as motivators.

1 in 3 people wanted to work to stay mentally sharp, while 30.3% would work to stay mentally sharp. Nearly 3 in 10 respondents acknowledged that they’d work for enjoyment.

Men were more likely to associate retirement work with enjoyment, while women were more likely to see retirement work as an essential source of income. Men were 10% more likely than women to say they’d work during retirement mainly out of enjoyment, while women were 10% more likely than men to say they’d mainly work to afford the cost of living.

Whether planned or not, working past retirement age can be challenging. We asked our participants what their top concerns would be about working in retirement.

The top concern for about 54% of respondents is dealing with health issues while working during retirement. Another 34.80% worry about facing age discrimination, while 30.49% fear a lack of job opportunities.

Both men and women shared the same worries about retirement work, but women were significantly more worried about health issues. While 49.80% of men reported they’d be concerned about health issues while working in retirement. 57.14% of women reported the same, indicating about a 7% difference.

If you work during retirement, try to avoid physically intensive jobs that could exacerbate health issues. According to the CDC, 41.3% of those ages 55–64 who worked in 2018 experienced work-related health issues. Before you start working, consult with a medical professional to ensure you aren’t risking your health.

While most Americans expect to work during retirement, many are doing so to pay the bills. To supplement your retirement income, consider creating multiple income streams.

Some helpful passive income ideas include:

While creating sources of passive income can take significant upfront investments, there are side hustles you can do for no money at all.

Some side jobs you can start with no money include:

While there are many income opportunities, try to focus on building one income stream at a time. Once you’ve solidified that income stream, you can move on to the next. Otherwise, you risk burning out if you try to take on too much too fast.

The more proactive you are about money management, the less likely you are to have to work during retirement. Ideally, any retirement work you do will be because you want to, not because you have to.

To inform your investment strategy and build a substantial retirement savings egg, check out our full guide on retirement investing.

The survey of 1,043 adults aged 18+ was conducted via SurveyMonkey for RetireGuide on April 28, 2023. Data is unweighted, and the margin of error is approximately +/-5% for the overall sample.