Government statistics show older workers are not in any hurry to retire. The decision to keep working might be for financial reasons. Or, it could be related to a fear of dying. After all, a recent study showed that blue-collar workers who retire earlier have higher mortality rates.
Marketplace, citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reported last year that people 55 and older will make up one-fourth of the U.S. workforce by 2020. The percentage of workers over 65 is at its highest point since the 1950's.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 82 percent of Americans over 50 expect to continue working to help make ends meet, even after they "retire".
Many, the research found, are pushing back their planned retirements due to finances (78 percent) and the desire to keep employer benefits such as health insurance (67 percent).
Seventy-five percent are looking to keep working because their health will allow them to or because they think they are still up to the job (67 percent).