Sixty-three percent of employed U.S. adults intend to keep working even after they hit retirement age—but on a part-time basis.
That's according to Gallup's Economy and Personal Finance survey, which also reveals that an additional 11 percent intend to work full time once they hit retirement age—while 25 percent of employed Americans plan to stop working altogether.
In previous iterations of the poll, results were similar in that working adults are most likely to say they intend to "continue working, and work part time." However, over the same time period, the number of respondents who plan to "stop working altogether" has increased.
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Among the would-be full-time retirement workers, the majority plan to do so because they want to, not because they have to—but the proportion of "want to" versus "will have to" explanations has risen slightly since 2013. The percentage who say they "want to" keep working just part time has also increased, from 34 percent to 44 percent.
The percentage of nonretirees who intend to keep working full time because they have to once they retire has fallen from 2013's 9 percent to 5 percent, while among those who "will have to" work part time, the percentage has also dropped—from 26 percent to 18 percent.
And perhaps surprisingly, whether their choice is to keep working full time, to drop back to part time or to stop working altogether, the majority say it's due to personal choice and not necessity. And 39 percent expect to retire after age 65, while approximately a quarter are aiming at 65 and 29 percent are looking at a younger retirement age.
But there has been a "seismic shift," says Gallup, since 1995 in the age at which nonretirees believe they will retire. Two 1995 polls revealed that an average of 14 percent said they expected to retire after 65 and 49 percent before 65. But over the last 20 years, the percentages have flipped, between the rise in the age to begin collecting Social Security benefits to 67 and the increasing financial need by more Americans to stick with a job.
Current retirees, however, present a different image, with 68 percent saying they retired before age 65; just 30 percent worked till 65 or older.
Gallup says that the difference in the retirement age of current retirees and the plans of those still working may be related to the changes in Social Security and movement away from guaranteed benefit plans, such as pensions.
And while it's possible that the lessening response about "having to" work rather than "wanting to" work part time among those who haven't yet retired might indicate that the need to work isn't as urgent this far removed from the Great Recession, Gallup also cautions that the reason could be quite different: that some still-working Americans may be overly optimistic about how financially prepared they are for retirement, thinking they have enough money set aside when they really don't.
In addition, with nearly 40 percent of Americans now believing they will retire after 65, the survey highlights how times have changed from the 1990s, when they planned to go much earlier.
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