Seven in 10 (71%) Americans said the pandemic changed their target retirement age, a recent survey found.
A new poll of 2,002 U.S. adults ages 35–70 discovered the pandemic has had far-reaching effects on how employees are planning both their retirement and “pretirement” – a new life stage serving as a transition period between full-time work and retirement.
The survey split respondents by how they would describe their pandemic experience on a five-point scale, from “very easy” to “very difficult.” It found that 71% of those who had a “very difficult” time (659 respondents) now plan to retire later in life.
People who rated their pandemic experience as “very difficult” were also more likely to aim to volunteer for a group, nonprofit, or other organization leading up to full retirement (49%). Two-thirds of all respondents said they had a somewhat or very difficult time during the pandemic.
The survey was conducted by OnePoll, the market research division of SWNS, and was commissioned by Human Interest, a provider of 401(k) and 403(b) plans. It highlighted critical ways that workers have changed their attitudes about the retirement experience.
Roughly one in three said the pandemic had changed everything about their retirement decisions — how they save (31%), what they want to do (31%) and when they want to retire (29%). An even greater number said it had changed how they make health decisions (40%) and how they save for emergencies (42%).
