Traditional retirement possibly becoming a thing of the past

It may be time to redefine retirement.

A new survey of American workers from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that 82% of the respondents age 60 and older either are, or expect to keep working past the age of 65. Among all workers, regardless of age, 20% expect to keep on working as long as possible in their current job or a similar one.

"The days of the gold-watch retirement where we have an office party and maybe some punch and cookies and never work again are more mythical than a reality,'' said Catherine Collinson, president of the retirement studies center. "Very few workers actually envision that type of retirement and many plan to keep on working part-time even after they retire.

"It even raises the question is retirement the right word."

The new retirement horizon should encourage employers to reconsider the way they view their staffing.

"It's a call to action ... to really revisit basic workforce management principles,'' Collinson says, "The reality is that as a society we have workers who are looking to work much longer than 20 or 30 years. They're also an important part of the economy because they're consumers as well. ''

Across all ages, many workers worry that they will be unable to save enough to last their lifetime. Outliving investments and savings was the top retirement concern for 44% of all respondents. And one-third of all workers believe their standard of living will diminish once they stop working.

Every group is facing particular risks, as well as opportunities, Collinson said, but she worries most about those in their 40s.

"Forty-somethings represent the critical mass of Generation X,'' she said. "And they're in the sandwich years, the time of life when most are likely juggling work, kids, and aging parents. They probably don't have a lot of free time and they also were very affected by the recession. They're rebuilding.''

Only 10% of respondents in their 40s said they were confident they would be able to fully retire in comfort.

But they should be more optimistic. "The message for them is you can do it,'' Collinson said. "We still have a good 20 or 30 years to save and plan and positively affect our long-term financial security. But the future is now. It is time to really get even more focused on it.''

Michele Clark, a financial planner based in Chesterfield, Mo., said that many younger Gen Xers doubt they'll get the Social Security payments currently forecast in their benefits statements.

"The only option is to save more to make up the difference,'' she said. "To identify money that they can save, they have to track their spending, and using apps on their phones fits perfectly with their lifestyle.''

For Gen Xers who are closer to traditional retirement age, and who have grown children, "I talk with them about the wonderful opportunity they have to shovel money into their retirement accounts once the kids are out of college and out of the house,'' Clark says. "People seem to want to remodel the kitchen and buy the fancy car they have been putting off, but this is the final hurrah for retirement savings and they really need to make the most of it "

There are some rules of thumb whatever a worker's age, Collinson said.

For instance, they should stop guessing how much they need to retire and actually run the numbers. "From there you can build a plan,'' she said. "Factor in everything from everyday living expenses ... (to) taxes and inflation,''

Such strategizing is necessary, even if you never plan to stop working.

"Planning not to retire is not a viable retirement strategy,'' Collinson said. "At some point in our lives we'll all stop working.''