Working in Older Age – The Benefits and Drawbacks

A question that often weighs heavily on the minds of a growing number of seniors is whether they need work in their old age. For some people, retirement cannot come soon enough, especially if they have a stressful or physical job. But, for others, retirement may be less attractive.

So, should you continue to work as you age?

The answer strongly depends on who you are and what you are looking for. With that in mind, this post is going to show you the benefits and drawbacks of working in older age, along with key considerations that you need to make.

Benefits of Continuing to Work

The most obvious benefit of working in older age is financial, especially when you’re retirement savings are meager and Social Security is modest.

So, if you continue to work full-time, rather than retire, you can continue to augment your Social Security. This means that when you do use social security, you will have to stretch it out over fewer years. Doing so makes things easier financially and much less stressful.

For that matter, many people already choose to push out retirement because they feel they cannot afford to retire earlier. This is true in the United States and also in many other countries.

Even if you’re not planning on working full time, continuing to work part-time can bring in enough extra cash and to stay on top of medical bills and utilities. In turn, this can lead to less stress and more flexibility.

For example, extra money may mean that you can go out to dinner more often, go to the theater or buy more presents for the grandkids.

But, the benefits of continuing to work aren’t just financial. For that matter, finances aren’t always the driving factor in why people continue to work or why they reenter the workforce.

For many, working offers a sense of independence. It means that they’re not relying on other people and are still able to contribute to society.

Working is also an important form of social connection. As a result, it can significantly reduce isolation and in doing so may also help promote good mental health.

Indeed, the amount of social interaction that you get at work is higher than most people realize. This is somewhat job dependent but in most cases, you do get a considerable amount of social connection this way.

Now, there are other options for social connection. For example, many seniors choose to join groups or clubs based on their interests or activities. Likewise, many senior centers offer programs that provide social interaction.

But, there is still something enjoyable about socializing via work. If nothing else, this may offer seniors the chance to connect with a wider range of individuals and the context is also very different.

Working is also good for mental health in other ways.

For example, it can often make people feel productive and more optimistic about life. Likewise, it means that seniors have less time to dwell on the past and tend to be more outward focused. After all, it’s easy to see how mental health problems can arise in seniors who spend most of their time at home.

Research also suggests that working past retirement age can help you to keep mentally and physically active. In the long-term, doing so many help to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other health conditions.

That brings me to another benefit – physical activity. Realistically, people can be physically active at any age, providing they tailor their activity around physical strengths and limitations. There are many such options for seniors, including local groups and classes at rec centers.

But, continuing to work is also an option, especially for jobs that require physical activity.

One final area to consider is enjoyment and happiness.

This aspect is very person specific. However, many people do enjoy going to work, particularly because of the challenges that it brings.

For that matter, some people end up retiring and then going back to work, simply because they cannot stand the lifestyle change that comes with retirement.

Sure, there are many programs out there for retired people and these can help you to stay social, while also being active physically and mentally. But, it can be frustrating and draining to find the right set of programs for you, especially for people who think a little outside of the box.

In contrast, working often simply makes sense – and many people do find that their job is already a good fit to what they need. At the same time, you can end up getting financially rewarded for being involved.

The end result is that working typically serves to keep you active both physically and mentally. It’s easy to see how this can offer benefits to short-term and to long-term health. At the same time, many people enjoy working, finding it both emotionally and financially rewarding.

Disadvantages of Working as You Age

Despite the benefits, there are many reasons you may not work into your older age.

For one thing, working past retirement means that it is longer before you have the chance to slow down. If you have a stressful or physically intensive job, doing so may be extremely unappealing.

Indeed, continuing to work can have a dramatic physical and mental impact.

For some people and jobs, working past this age may not even be safe. For example, if you have a physical position and joint issues, you could easily cause yourself serious harm in continuing to work.

There are also negative impacts for non-physical jobs. In particular, any stressful job can be difficult emotionally and mentally, especially when many of your friends may be retired.

Another area to consider is the social disadvantages.

As I mentioned before, working past retirement can be beneficial socially, providing you more chance for interaction and friendship. But, at the same time, the process can make it harder to connect with people your own age.

Likewise, you may not have as much time to spend with family and grandkids.

One final area to consider is the people you will be working with and for. In particular, many of the people in your workplace will probably be half your age, if not younger. You may even end up working for somebody young enough to be your grandchild.

This type of age gap can be frustrating and many people struggle to take orders from somebody much younger than them. Additionally, the variation in ages can lead to generational gaps in many areas. This can contribute to misunderstandings and tensions.

As such, it’s important to think about whether you could cope with this type of situation, particularly if you are considering a new position. Now, these various issues won’t always be present and they may not even be significant. But, it’s much better to evaluate them first, rather than being surprised by them later on.

There is Considerable Individual Variation

It’s true that there are considerable advantages (and disadvantages) to working in your older age. However, these are strongly dependent on who you are and on your situation. At the same time, the viability of continuing to work is going to vary dramatically.

For example, if you have a physically intense job, then working is likely to get progressively more difficult as you age. Likewise, this type of job may come with more health risks. As a result, you may find yourself forced out of a physically active job much faster than with many other positions.

In a similar way, your employer plays a role in your ability to continue working. While you are protected from age discrimination in employment it can still be difficult to keep a job while all your coworkers are younger. If nothing else, quality of work can decline with age and this alone can make it hard to hold onto some conditions.

But, there are many employers that work well with aged employees. Some even like having older employees, finding that they are more reliable, more experienced and often have more skills.

It’s also worth noting that the advantages and disadvantage of working past retirement vary considerably depending on your job. As we mentioned above, some jobs are physically challenging, so they could easily compromise your health, rather than help to improve it.

Likewise, many positions may not offer considerable social benefits or mental challenges. For example, if your job was sitting in an office filing paperwork all day or stocking shelves, you might find it boring quickly. For those types of positions, the advantages of working may be much smaller and the disadvantages much more significant.

As a result, it’s important to think about what specific outcomes you are looking for and what jobs will offer those.

Still, your specific job is only part of the equation.

After all, you can always find a new one and you can even start in an entirely different industry. For example, some seniors even take entry-level jobs, such as in a grocery store or in the library. Such jobs can still offer social interaction and the chance to earn a little money

Another area to consider is your financial needs. For some people, working past retirement is a necessity. For others, it may make little difference.

Finally, who you are is going to be significant.

Many seniors choose to continue working or find a new job because they don’t enjoy being retired. But, others actually hate their job and couldn’t stand working any longer than they absolutely have to.

Likewise, some people simply want to stop. After all, we do work for most of our lives. Sometimes the idea of just slowing down and enjoying the finer things is incredibly attractive. And, if you can afford to do so, why not?

So, much of the decision comes down to what matters the most to you.

Plan and Research Carefully

At the end of the day, it’s important to take the time and figure out what is going to work for you. The decision to continue to work has significant implications, many of which aren’t going to be obvious immediately. The same is true for retirement.

As a general rule, working even just a few years longer can have significant benefits, including positive implications for your health and also your finances. So, if this is a viable option for you, it’s worth considering.

But, if you hate your job or already have significant money saved for retirement, then staying longer may not be as attractive.

More than anything, it’s important to talk to an advisor and be informed about the implications of continuing to work. For example, working past retirement decreases your Social Security income in the short-term.

In most cases, you would still come out ahead. Nevertheless, the impact on Social Security can be significant and many people aren’t aware of this beforehand.

Likewise, your health care coverage is likely to change. So, you need to pay close attention to this and make sure that all of the gaps are covered.

Otherwise, you could be putting your long-term health at risk by continuing to work.

Pension is another important area.

Some seniors choose to switch to a part-time position in the same organization, rather than retire. This can allow them to work for longer than they could otherwise. But, the decision has consequences when it comes to your pension.

Companies vary, but the equation for pension typically considers your earnings in the years close to retirement. So, working in a part-time position could dramatically decrease your income once you do retire.

One final thing is to budget carefully.

Working comes with its own financial costs, such as buying food, commuting and parking. Many of these are small but they can add up significantly. This means that you have to be certain that you’re going to earn enough to make the process worth it.

For that matter, it’s critical to weigh up what you’ll be earning with the costs of retirement. Everyone will have different considerations here but it’s important to take the time and research carefully. After all, you want to make the best decision possible for your situation and needs.

So, should you work past retirement?

Well, as you can see, the answer does strongly depend on who you are and what you are looking for. But, in many cases, the answer is yes, if you can safely continue to work, then it may well be worth doing.

Actually Finding (or Keeping) a Job

Everything we’ve focused on so far has been about whether or not you should keep working past retirement. But, this is only one consideration. Another equally important area is actually finding a job or keeping the one you have.

As we mentioned previously, some employers are more than happy to have senior staff members on board, especially if the senior already has a history with the company. But, this isn’t always true.

Indeed, ageism is a major issue in the workplace and this can make it very difficult for seniors to find and maintain work. This is something that we have covered in the past, with some research suggesting that around 64% of senior employees have experienced some degree of age discrimination. To make matters worse, around 20% of seniors have lost jobs to a younger individual.

All of this happens despite the fact that seniors are protected under employment law.

One of the problems is that any form of discrimination is difficult to prove and ageism is even more so. For example, companies can often find reasons to let employees go that are indirectly related to age or not connected at all.

Ageism aside, seniors will often need to gain new skills to be competitive in the workplace. After all, many will have fewer qualifications than younger employment candidates and may lack skills in key areas, like technology.

As a result, seniors may need to develop new skills or retrain in order to find employment. There are many national programs that help to support this area along with other approaches that help seniors to become (and remain) employed.

Because this is a detailed topic, we’re not going to cover it here. Instead, it will be the subject of a future post.