Barriers to Retirement 6: Working and Bridging

This continues our series on barriers to retirement by exploring work as a new option (This post should have been published on February 1)

We explored 5 traditional sources to fund your retirement: 1) a pension, 2) Social Security, 3) home equity, 4) savings, and 5) investments. Many people will not find enough money to fund their retirement. Today, we will explore the emerging sixth source of funding retirement—one that will redefine the concept of retirement—working.

I work with a lot of people aged 60-80 years old. We have seen an increase of older workers returning to the workforce. I know of two assisted living communities who appointed an employment specialist to help residents find jobs. I personally know more than 100 people over the age of 75 who went back to work in the past 12 months.

Continuing to Work: Both a Requirement and a Choice

So many senior citizens are returning to the workforce that economist created a title for the phenomenon—bridge employment. Bridging means that you work less hours doing the same job you did before, in some cases for the same employer.

Some retirees must go back to work for financial reasons: insufficient retirement, collapsing investments, medical catastrophes, and problems with other family members that drain their retirement. The Journal of Occupational Health found that seniors that must go back to work enjoy it less and usually must find work in different fields.

Other retirees choose bridge employment health reasons. Anita Gutierrez-Folch quotes Time Magazine’s Wellness blog that people who bridge “may be less likely to face major diseases and more likely to keep up daily functions, compared with those who go straight from a full-time career into full-time retirement.”

Long-life spans constitute another reason many retirees continue to work. They get bored after several years of inactivity. While many find activity in service situations, others choose to return to the work place. They find satisfaction, fulfillment, and purpose in work.

So, whether for financial, health, or entertainment reasons. Work has become the sixth source of retirement. It will be interesting to see how this development affects the decade long prediction that the retiring baby boomers will leave a massive void in the workplace. What if they don’t retire?

Join me later today when I conclude my examination of retirement with some possible solutions