A staggering 4.5m over 50s expect to work an average of six years beyond their state retirement age, according to an indepth report into the over-50s.
The Working Late Index, published by LV=, compiled from a poll of 1,551 over-50s in October, shows twice as many women as men expect to retire after their state retirement age.
Whilst 55 per cent of this group expect to work no more than five years past retirement, a quarter believe they will work five to ten years, and a further 20 per cent see themselves working well into their 70s or even 80s. One in ten (10%) late retirees say they will continue to work in the hope that their pension will increase in value.
According to LV=’s research, one in five over-50s who had retired have since gone back to work; 4 per cent full-time, 10 per cent part-time and 6 per cent unpaid in the voluntary sector. Of those who have taken the U-turn from retirement back to the workplace, 34 per cent said they missed working and 32 said they were looking for a new challenge. But 26 per cent went back to work because their combined state and private pension wasn’t enough to support their retirement lifestyle.
When asked about the impact of the Coalition Government’s recent Comprehensive Spending Review, two in five (40 per cent) over-50s said that they expect to have lower savings and income in retirement as a result, compared to just 2 per cent who think they will be better off. 29 per cent are unsure of how the cuts will affect them.
The Government’s change to the state retirement age to 66 from 2020 has left 47 per cent of people in their 50s believing they will be adversely affected. 26 per cent said they will now have to retire later than planned, and 21 per cent said they will retire as planned, but as they won’t receive a state pension in the very early years of their retirement, they will struggle on a smaller income at the beginning.
Ray Chinn, LV= head of pensions, says: ”Britain’s over-50s have already slashed their retirement savings by nearly £18 billion in the last year, and now it looks like many will have to continue working to ensure they have adequate income in retirement. This is not only because there is not enough in their pension pots, with 9 per cent of over-50s saying they need to maintain an income to financially support their children. It is worrying to see that many over-50s expect to work up to 15 years past the state retirement age, and in some cases are working even more hours than they did earlier in their careers.”