Employers Lukewarm About Retaining Older Workers

Introduction

Working longer has emerged as a major response to the coming retirement income challenge. Going forward, Social Security will replace a smaller portion of household earnings for retirement at any given age. Employer plans, now primarily 401(k)s, generally have modest balances, and the income they provide will be much less secure. And individuals save virtually nothing outside of 401(k)s. But workers can offset much of the projected decline and increased risk in their retirement income by remaining in the labor force two to four years longer. For this shift to occur, workers must be willing to extend their careers and employers must be willing to employ them…