Data from the American Advisors Group, the nation’s leader in home equity solutions, shows that seniors are pushing back retirement to make ends meet, and 2020 has only expedited that trend. This data was taken from AAGs Post-2020 Retirement Survey with over 1,500 participants ages 60-75.
“After the uncertainty created by the events of 2020, many seniors want to ensure that they will have the financial means and flexibility to enjoy the retirement they had hoped and planned for,” said AAG Chief Marketing Officer Martin Lenoir in a statement. “While we know that Americans are living longer, this survey illustrates that seniors are working longer into their retirement years too,” he added.
About 50% of seniors rely on Social Security for the majority of their income, according to data from the ConsumerAffairs Research Team. Over 14.8 million elderly adults are living out of poverty because of these benefits.
According to AAGs data, roughly one-third of seniors answered that 2020 hurt their retirement plans. Nearly half of seniors (46%) plan to work part-time, while 18% of seniors said they plan on working full time past the age of 70 and 12% said they plan to work full time for the rest of their lives.
To improve finances, seniors also answered they will be creating an emergency fund and filing for an income tax refund. However, AAG stated that neither one of these options could be used to create long-term retirement stability. Seniors ages 62 and older own more than $8 trillion in housing wealth, according to National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association data, which could be used to supplement income for millions of seniors in the U.S., reported AAG.
