Retirement no Longer on Seniors' Radar

By Joel Dresang, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

August 28, 2008

Ruby S. Johnson's co-workers presented her with a chair for her birthday this month. It's cushioned. It swivels. And it should help make her comfortable for the rest of her working days - which could be a long time yet.

"My grandmother was 114 when she died," Johnson said. At 93, Johnson is an extreme example of a maturing trend: working older. 

She's not delaying retirement. She's forgoing it.

"I always want to work," Johnson said as she deftly tore off lengths of heat-resistant tape to insulate coils of copper wire that will be used in power equipment. For 57 years Johnson has worked full time at MTE Corp. in Menomonee Falls. She said it's not only a living but a place to go every morning, with people to see.

"I just like to keep going," she said. "I don't want to stop."

Because they can, because they want to - and increasingly because they need to - Americans are reversing a decadeslong trend of retiring earlier. Consider these statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• Data released this month show consistent year-to-year employment increases for Americans 65 and older while employment for those under 65 has dropped in each of the last three months.
• 15.5 percent of Americans 65 and older were in the labor force last year, the highest rate since 1971 and part of an upward trend from a low of 10.4 percent in 1985.
• 56.3 percent of workers 65 and older were working full time last year, a new high. Until 2002 part-time workers always outnumbered full-time workers among older workers.
• In the last 30 years the number of American workers 65 and older grew by 101 percent, compared with a 59 percent increase in all workers. Those 75 and older increased by 172 percent.

Experts blame the rough economy for the recent surge in working past 65.
"It's a reflection of people's desperation more than it is a reflection of just positive things about people working longer and being happy to work longer," said Monique Morrissey, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.

Lately, financial insecurity has become the leading reason for workers to put off retirement.

"That's just going to be exacerbated by the current economy," said Dennis Winters, chief labor-market economist for the Wisconsin Department of Work Force Development.

Not only have financial markets battered retirement plans, but housing equity has eroded. Add to that the continued escalation of health costs and everything related to sky-high fuel prices, and it's easy to understand why more people see early retirement getting out of reach. 

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