A Growing Niche: Working Retirees

Feb 9, 2012

retirees

The headlines come nearly every week: A poll or survey shows that boomers are anxious, worried or at the very least concerned about their ability to have enough retirement savings to actually retire.

The articles cite as the causes of concern for boomers:

  1.     the economic slump
  2.     struggling home prices
  3.     stock market uncertainties
  4.     high unemployment, and/or
  5.     job market shifts.

Here are four stories from just the past few months:

 

Survey: 25% of Employees Say They Need to Work Until Age 80 (ProgramBusiness.com) stated that “workers are coming to terms with the fact that they aren’t saving enough” for retirement.

 

80 Is The New 65 When It Comes to Retirement (Employee Benefit News) reported that “Three-fourths of those surveyed said they expect to work in their retirement years.”

Oldest Baby Boomers Face Jobs Bust (The Wall Street Journal) reported that “more than four million Americans aged 55 to 64” can’t find full-time work, a number has nearly doubled in five years, as per U.S. Department of Labor.

Poll: Boomers’ Anxiety About Retirement Grows (LifeHealthPro.com) reported on the October 2011 Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll. This survey from fall 2011 found that 73 percent of boomers plan to work past retirement, up from 67 percent this spring.

Working longer (to sustain income) and cutting back (to reduce expenses) are two practical ways for boomers to save more for retirement.

There’s been a growing acceptance of work-at-home part-time and full-time arrangements and other flexible work arrangements in the insurance industry since WAHVE was founded less than two years ago. I believe that an expanding niche of insurance retirees will postpone retirement and continue working. This will provide insurance veterans with the supplemental income they need as well as provide employers with insurance expertise and experience to power their businesses.

What do you think: Do you see insurance workplaces being more flexible this year than they have been in years past?

— Sharon Emek, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO
WAHVE

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