Retirement 'More Myth Than Reality,' Survey Finds

Only 21% of Americans say they plan to stop working at the age of retirement, according to a new survey.

The Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) surveyed 4,550 full-time and part-time workers about their retirement and savings plans. One in five said they would continue working as long as possible and 41% planned to reduce their hours. The study also found that 61% of Americans expect to continue working past the age of 65 or do not plan to retire at all.

“Today’s workers recognize they need to save and self-fund a greater portion of their retirement income,” said Catherine Collinson, president of TCRS. “The long-held view that retirement is a moment in time when people reach a certain age, immediately stop working, fully retire, and begin pursuing their dreams is more myth than reality.”

Subscribe to TIME

The Leadership Brief. Conversations with the most influential leaders in business and tech.

Please enter a valid email address.

* The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again.

Sign Up Now

An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later.

Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME.

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Contact us at letters@time.com.