The latest survey is the follow-up to a similar survey conducted by SunAmerica and Age Wave in 2001, and it identified "a significant shift in attitudes and actions" in the decade since. Among them:

• A new outlook: Today, 54% view retirement as a new chapter in life, rather than a winding down—a significant increase over the 38% that held a similar view a decade ago.
• Retirement is being postponed: Pre-retirees say they now intend to delay retirement by five years—from 64 to 69—triggered in part by increasing longevity, as well as the recession and financial need.
• Retirement no longer means the end of work: Almost two-thirds say they would ideally like to remain productive and include some work in retirement to stay active and involved.
• Financial peace of mind is now six times more important than accumulating wealth: 82% name it their key financial goal.
• Unexpected multi-generational family assistance has become the new retirement wild card: Pre-retirees must balance their retirement plans with the possibility of having to support aging relatives, adult children, grandchildren and siblings.

“What we’ve found is that people are more resilient as a result of what they’ve recently gone through,” Roth added. “They’ve been knocked down two or three times since our last study. As a result, they’re not frightened about getting knocked down again, and that fuels this feeling of optimism; they can handle anything that might be thrown at them.”