Forget 65! More Americans Plan To Retire In Their 80S... But That's Okay As More People Are Reaching 90 Than Ever Before

More Americans are expecting to work until their 80s to earn and retire comfortably today, yet with this adjustment, so comes new census figures showing the likelihood they'll live far beyond that.

People aged 90 or older have nearly tripled in number since 1980, to 1.9 million, according to Thursday's first-ever census numbers on the age group.

The figures follow a survey released Wednesday by Wells Fargo & Co revealing that 25 per cent of workers say they'll need to work to at least the age of 80 to retire comfortably and that most haven't created a detailed retirement plan.

Seventy-five per cent said they expect to work until their 80s, and 35 per cent said they just want to.

The trend in longer lives however is posing unique health challenges and adding to rising government costs for the strained Medicare and Social Security programs.

Better nutrition and advances in medical care are attributing to longer lives today, according to analysts, but the longevity means deeper digs into Social Security revenues, a system once called a Ponzi scheme by one presidential candidate and unreliable to future recipients.

Half of those surveyed between 25 and 49 years-old however say they'd accept future reductions in their benefits if it lowered the nation's debt which toppled $15 trillion Wednesday afternoon.

Only 19 percent of those over 60 agreed to such program cuts and 28 per cent of those aged 50 to 59.

But the longer lives, working or not, prompts a different set of challenges for the medical field now on disabilities and chronic conditions such as arthritis, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

A secondary set of challenges is on the younger working generation however, according to to Joe Ready, a director of Wells Fargo institutional Retirement and Trust.

Mr Ready notes the potential impact on advancement opportunities for younger workers if their older peers stay on the job.

The oldest old are projected to increase to 8.7 million by midcentury — making up one out of 10 older Americans.

That's a big change from over a century ago, when fewer than 100,000 people reached 90.

'A key issue for this population will be whether disability rates can be reduced,' said Richard Suzman, director of behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging, which supported the census report.

But for younger job hunters, fearful of lost opportunities to longer-working elders and the survey's findings that only 20 percent believe it's more important to retire at a specific age, regardless of savings, the smaller states may be the ones to stay clear of.

According to the census figures, these smaller states hold the highest shares of older Americans who are at least 90.

North Dakota led the list, with about 7 percent of its 65-plus population being over 90.

It was followed by Connecticut, Iowa and South Dakota.

In absolute numbers, California, Florida and Texas led the nation in the 90-plus population, each with more than 130,000.

'Given its rapid growth, the 90-and-older population merits a closer look,' said Wan He, a Census Bureau demographer who wrote the report.

'The older people get, the more resources they consume because of health care, and disability rates significantly increase. This creates demands for daily care, and for families the care burden increases dramatically,' Mr He said.

According to the census report, the share of people 90-94 who report having some kind of impairment such as inability to do errands, visit a doctor's office, climb stairs or bathe is 13 percentage points higher than those 85-89 — 82 percent versus 69 percent.

Among those 95 and older, the disability rate climbs to 91 percent.

The findings come as a special congressional committee struggles to meet a Nov. 23 deadline to cut more than $1 trillion from the federal deficit over 10 years.

Major sticking points are proposals to increase tax revenue as well as trim Social Security and Medicare spending, such as by increasing the Medicare eligibility age.

Survey figures also note that retirement planning is still something that most workers haven't focused on.

Sixty-nine per cent of survey respondents do not have a written financial plan.

A majority - 60 percent - said they were overwhelmed or that it was pointless because they're too far behind to catch up.

That means that they don't expect to have much money to leave behind.

About 43 percent said they don't expect to leave an inheritance to their children.

Even among households surveyed with more than $100,000 in income, 29 percent don't expect to leave any savings behind.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063035/Forget-65-More-Americans-plan-retire-80s--thats-okay-people-reaching-90-before.html?ito=feeds-newsxml