Working past 65 is becoming common among seniors. Persons who reach the age of 65 are necessarily not retiring but instead are pushing retirement off a few years. You may work as long as you want thus you can hold on to your job until you are ready to enjoy your sunset years and your pension. You may find programs designed to ramp up skills for seniors willing to continue working past 65.

Persons who are working longer than they had originally hoped may accrue a lot of benefits as well as experience some negatives.

Benefits of working past retirement:

• You continue to earn an income
• Reduction of years you’ll have to rely on your savings
• A high payout from the Social Security program
• You feel productive and useful to others
• Remain mentally active
• Interaction with your co-workers thus giving you a feeling of community
• Enjoyment of your job
• More time to save for retirement
• Stave off boredom
• Lower Social Security and Medicare spending
• Employer benefits from having a person who has depth of knowledge and expertise
• Continued access to group health insurance

Disadvantages of working past retirement

• The younger generation is locked out of employment opportunities
• Working longer in a physically demanding job may not be pleasant
• Financial necessity of working to overcome poverty or near poverty-conditions
• Age discrimination for seniors who have been out of work for a while
• Less leisure time
• Pension problems resulting from returning to work after retirement
• IRA withdrawals
• Taxes on social security benefits

Considerations when working past retirement

When deciding to extend your working years past retirement, you should make important considerations. You should prioritize, make trade-offs, understand your options, consider the work you do and focus on your health. Working past retirement should not feel like a sentence. Instead it should be because you enjoy it therefore making it a choice to continue working.

With or with no money you should make the right decision to either work or not work past retirement. Since employers can no longer force workers to retire at 65, the value of older employees is increasing. Firms may not find candidates with the right qualifications for the vacant thus better retention rates. If you are returning to work, choose a great job that you can enjoy until you call it quits.