RETAIL CORRIDOR
To retire or unretire? Ways to consider the question
REBECCA WARREN is a certified financial planner professional and certified senior adviser in Mesa. She can be reached at (480) 357-8380 or by e-mail at Rebecca@ WarrenFinancialServices.com.
Add retirement to the long list of things baby boomers are changing their minds about. An April, 2006, study by Zogby International and the MetLife Mature Market Institute found that a significant number of older Americans are revising their ideas about their post-career years. The study found that 78 percent of respondents age 55 to 59 are working or looking for work, as are 60 percent of 60- to 65-year-olds and 37 percent of 66- to 70-yearolds. Across all three age groups, roughly 15 percent of workers have actually accepted retirement benefits from a previous employer, and then chose to return to work (or are seeking work). Called the “working retired,” these workers represent 11 percent of 55-to 59-year-olds, 16 percent of 60- to 65-year-olds and 19 percent of 66- to 70-year-olds. A decision to return to work isn’t necessarily a negative. It’s not always a sign that older Americans are having trouble making ends meet. Some work simply because they want to change careers for a new challenge. But delaying retirement or returning to the work force from retirement is a decision that should be made after a thorough financial review. Here are some critical points to consider in a working retirement:
• Making working retirement a variable in your planning. If you’re in your early 50s and reviewing your retirement planning so far, ask yourself under what conditions you’d return to the workplace. Maybe you want to take a year off after you retire from your current job and then you’ll go back into another career. You obviously need to know based on current projections how much money you’re likely to gather from savings and other retirement resources.
• Check what returning to work will do to your pension. Early retirement transitions can have some adverse effects particularly where pensions are involved. Get some advice here.
• Back to school? You’ll be shocked at how much college costs have risen in the past 30-plus years. If you’re investigating postretirement employers, see if you can qualify for educational benefits to back up any out-of-pocket costs. Talk to a tax professional before you make a move.
