The country clubs and cruise lines will have to wait.
The share of American men 55 and older and still working rose to 40.4 percent in July, the highest since January 1984, according to Labor Department figures. The 28 percent for women was a record, and participation in the labor force among females over 65 jumped 6.5 percent during the past year.
Seniors are putting off retirement or returning to work after watching slumping stock prices take a bite out of their savings over the past two years. Changes in government and company retirement plans are enticing people to work longer. Higher life expectancy and better medical care are pushing retirement dates back. And some, like Estelle Granger, find working more enjoyable.
"I don't know if I'll ever retire," said Granger, 57, an accountant who spent 25 years in banking. Four years ago, she took early retirement, only to find herself sitting around her house on New York's Long Island. "Most of my close friends were working. I was so bored." Six months later, she joined Robert Half International Inc's Accountemps temporary service, and logs an average of 30 hours a week.
Stories like Granger's provide evidence the economy will continue to recover from a recession that began in March last year because it indicates companies are hiring and consumer spending is less likely to falter, economists said.
Moreover, the longer Americans keep working, the greater the relief for the Social Security Administration, which is running out of money to pay benefits, as baby-boomers born between 1946 and 1964 retire.
The Social Security trust fund that pays disabled workers may dry up as early as 2028, the government forecast this year. The Medicare trust fund will last until about 2041, while the Social Security pension fund has until about 2043 before it runs out of cash.
"If people would work until they're 70, we wouldn't have a Social Security crisis," said Richard Johnson, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute.
When Congress passed the Social Security Act in 1935, the average American lived an average of about 58 years. Now, life expectancy for both sexes and all races is 77. To reflect this, the age at which Americans can receive full retirement benefits is rising to 67 from 65 in steps that will be completed in 2022.
Early retirement, which brings reduced payments, stays at 62.
Other factors are also at work. Employees have to shoulder more of their retirement costs as companies shift to plans that require workers to make contributions, such as 401(k)s.
Fixed-benefit pensions based on earnings and years of service mean additional years of work don't add much to retirement payments unless incomes in later years rise dramatically, Johnson said. By contrast, 401(k)s and other worker-managed plans provide an incentive to stay on the job longer because employees can keep amassing savings, he said.
"Americans are beginning to process that there's a high probability they may live a long time," said Helen Dennis, with the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California.
Some workers are also holding off applying for benefits because the longer they wait, the bigger the checks will be, said William Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute and previously a member of President Ronald Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors.
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