Show business is leading the way for working beyond retirement with dozens of leading entertainers and performers still working well into their 70s.
Singer songwriter Bob Dylan has just finished a world tour at the age of 73 and the Monty Python team are performing sell-out shows at London’s O2 Arena. All five surviving members of the comedy team are in their 70s.
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They are just a few headline acts that include The Rolling Stones, Sir Paul McCartney and countless actors still hard at work well past their retirement age.
So it should come as no surprise that ordinary workers are also loathe to give up their jobs at 65 years old and intend to carry on working.
Retiring retirement
Research by financial firm MGM Advantage reveals that one in 10 workers do not want to retire ever – while one in six over 65s want to work for as long as their health allows.
Not everyone wants to work for ever, though, as the same research also found a fifth of workers want to give up work before they are 60 years old.
“Perhaps we need to retire the concept of retirement,” said the firm’s spokesman Andrew Tully.
“It seems like it’s not only the stars who want to work well into their 70s, but ordinary people as well. A lot of us just don’t seem ready to give up our jobs too early and we can expect to see many more people working into their autumn years as a matter of course.”
Looking at the numbers, around 600,000 people a year approach retirement age, and Tully explained that if 10% carry on working, that means 60,000 older people still have a job.
Bolster finances
“Hopefully, employers will look at their older workers as a resource offering considerable experience and skills,” he said. “Gone are the days when pensioners were put out to pasture at 65 years old.”
Not everyone wants to carry on working from choice, according to the study.
A third of those approaching 65 years old this year are concerned that they might not have enough cash put aside to fund a comfortable retirement.
That’s why 70% of people will continue working, said Tully, because they need the money to bolster their savings or pay off debts.
“The main consideration for this group is can they afford to retire when they want to or will they have to put off retirement until they feel they have enough cash,” he said.