Fred Harteis Editors Note: This news series article is quite disturbing. Many American are expecting to work till they die without being able to enjoy retiring.
A growing number of Americans plan to work beyond retirement age because they have not saved enough money and can't afford to stop working, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
Twelve percent of people say they will never be able to retire at all, up from 7 percent five years ago, according to the nationwide survey taken in May and June by the
The number who plan to work full- or part-time after they retire from their primary jobs was nearly 70 percent of American workers, the survey found.
Those planning to work full-time specifically for economic reasons doubled in the last five years to 6 percent, while those planning to work part-time out of necessity jumped to 18 percent from 10 percent, the survey of 800 people found.
Other reasons people listed for working in old age included furthering their own interests or setting up their own businesses.
Just a quarter were "very confident" they could retire when they want, down from 29 percent in 2000, it said.
"The traditional notion of retirement, where one stops working completely and enjoys leisure time with friends and family, is obsolete," said Carl Van Horn, director of the
"Workers in 2005 feel less confident than they did in 2000 that they will be financially able to leave the workforce ahead of traditional retirement age."
Only 13 percent expect to stop working completely.
The number of people planning to work part-time to pursue their own interests, meanwhile, dropped to 27 percent from 42 percent in 2000.
Van Horn said the changes largely reflect a decline in the stock market since the last survey in 2000, taken when people felt better about their retirement savings.
"A lot of people were feeling, in the words of (Federal Reserve Board Chairman) Alan Greenspan, some irrational exuberance," Van Horn said. "They now have a much more realistic picture of retirement."
Confidence in the ability to retire also has been hit by the national debate on the future of Social Security and by corporate bankruptcies that led some companies to renege on pension obligations, he said.
The survey also found 40 percent of workers do not believe Social Security will still be available when they retire.
It found 39 percent of workers believe they are primarily responsible for securing their own retirement income, yet 35 percent said they save nothing to supplement Social Security.
The number who said they feel they are doing a good job of saving for retirement dropped to 46 percent from 52 percent in 2000.
Source: cnn.com
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