Half of older workers delay retirement plans

Graphic designer Tom Sadowski, 65, who delayed his retirement, walks his dog near his home in Sterling, Va. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

EDITOR’S NOTE _ Aging America is a joint AP-APME examining the aging of the baby boomers and the impact this so-called silver tsunami is having on society.

CHICAGO (AP) — Stung by a recession that sapped investments and home values, but expressing widespread job satisfaction, older Americans appear to have accepted the reality of a retirement that comes later in life and no longer represents a complete exit from the workforce. Roughly 82 percent of working Americans over 50 say it is at least somewhat likely they will work for pay in retirement, according to a poll released Monday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The survey found 47 percent of working survey respondents now expect to retire later than they previously thought and, on average, plan to call it quits at about 66, or nearly three years later than their estimate when they were 40. Men, racial minorities, parents of minor children, those earning less than $50,000 a year and those without health insurance were more likely to put off their plans.