Seniors Retiring From the Workforce – When Does it Make Sense?
The plight of aging America is that the more advanced our society gets, the harder it gets for senior citizens to retire from the work force. The concept of retirement started hundreds of years ago with the idea that someone got too old to hunt, till the field, or more recently, work in a factory. Therefore, they had to retire and depend on their family and the surrounding community to provide for them. Over time, this concept has changed to include the desire to enjoy the remaining years of one’s life, doing what you want to do without the weight of work holding you down. Today, as people live longer and the cost of living continues to rise, the idea of retirement is becoming blurry to seniors; when should they retire?

The typical worker in USA tends to retire at 62, which is 2 years higher than the average worker 10 years ago. Currently more than 60% of men that are 60-64 are still in the workforce as reported by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Today’s seniors are pushing retirement back. Due to this delayed retirement, seniors are starting to face issues in relation to their status at their current employer once they reach and exceed the age of 60.

Companies are faced with several problems and stigmas related to senior employees such as their being under trained, having higher salaries and health costs, and conflicts with younger employees. Companies are facing a double-edged sword, with the need to maintain an effective workforce and the need to pay senior employees what they are worth in order to keep them from retiring.

Senior workers should be viewed as an asset to a company. They come with the experience and background of living through two depressions and the largest financial boon in the history of the world as the United States went from a factory driven country to a service driven country.

Some of the companies that are recognizing the importance of a senior staff and actively look to recruit them are CVS, Borders, Wal-Mart, Target, Red Cross, Blue Cross, Bank of America, and Sunrise Senior Living. The reasons they have for recruiting seniors is that they are also their clients so they can relate to their customers, they know the value of hard work, and are dependable.

Importantly, seniors need to understand that the longer they work the better they will be able to better fund their actual retirement and live a higher quality of life. Staying in the workforce for 3-5 more years can more than boost their retirement by a third. Retirement is being redefined, as well as the value of a senior worker. Only time will tell how we view retirement 20 years from now.