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A32 FEATURE
Monday 7 october 2019

Working past 65? It’s easier to do if you graduated college

By STAN CHOE chowski come to CEO
SARAH SKIDMORE SELL Stephen Janachowski, he
Associated Press shows them how much in
NEW YORK (AP) — Close to spending money they’ll
one in five Americans who’s have each year in retire-
65 or older is still working, ment, if they retire at 62. But
the highest percentage then he shows how much
in more than half a cen- larger that number would
tury. And the one who’s still be if they wait until 67, as
working may be better off. much as 50 percent higher
As more and more Ameri- in some cases.
cans delay retirement, it’s “We’re not even trying to
those with a college de- talk them into it,” he said.
gree that find it easiest “It’s more giving them op-
to keep working past 65. tions. Do you want to be
Their less-educated peers, able to take more trips,
meanwhile, are having a spend more time with
more difficult time staying your family, and is it worth
in the workforce. it to you to work longer
It’s a crucial distinction be- and have more of those
cause financial experts say things?”
both groups would benefit In this Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, photo Gerry Goldsholle poses for a photo by a harbor outside his Consider someone who
from working an extra year office in Sausalito, Calif. turns 66 this year and would
or more to improve their re- Associated Press get $1,000 monthly as their
tirement security. By staying years later than men with college graduate earned peers. Social Security benefit. If
on the job, older Americans only high-school degrees, nearly two-thirds more than Less-educated Americans that person had retired
can build up their savings, who are retiring at an aver- the typical high-school also are more likely to be in at 62, their monthly ben-
which in too many cases age age of 62.8. graduate, among all work- physically demanding jobs, efit would have been only
are inadequate. Plus, they In the late 1970s, though, ers aged 25 and above. which are tougher to keep $750. And for each year
can allow bigger Social Se- the two groups were retir- That’s driving a split in retire- as age increases. they delay getting benefits
curity benefits to accrue. ing at nearly the same age: ment savings: The typical Among men aged 50 and past 66, the size of that ben-
Besides, many older Ameri- 64.6 for college graduates households run by some- over, for example, 61 per- efit will grow by 8 percent,
cans like the idea of staying and 64.1 for high-school one with a college degree cent of workers without until they reach age 70.
engaged by working. graduates. has $116,900 in a retirement a college degree have A BUSY SET OF GOLDEN
Less-educated Americans, “We see people intending account, more than triple to move heavy loads (or YEARS
though, aren’t always able to work a whole lot longer, the $36,000 median for people) as a regular part of Gerry Goldsholle just cel-
to follow this path, even but the problem is that for households run by some- their job. That’s more than ebrated his 78th birthday,
though they tend to have the most part, it’s a lot eas- one with only a high-school double the 23 percent rate and he’s still working. He
less in retirement savings. In- ier for the college gradu- diploma. of their college-graduate has degrees from William
stead, many are forced to ates to fulfill that plan,” Rut- WHAT’S DRIVING THE RE- peers, according to re- and Mary and Colum-
retire before their mid-60s ledge said. TIREMENT DIVIDE searchers at Harvard Uni- bia University, and after a
because of poor health, This divide between highly- Health is a big factor in de- versity, RAND Corp. and the roughly two-decade ca-
the inability to do jobs that and less-educated Ameri- ciding when to retire, Rut- University of California, Los reer with MetLife, he took
require a lot of physical ac- cans begins long before ledge said. A stroke, heart Angeles. Lower-educat- an early-retirement offer
tivity or other reasons. the golden years. Start- attack or depression could ed workers also are much when he was 50 years old.
“If less-educated people ing from their 20s, college knock anyone into an ear- more likely to have jobs His first wife had recently
were retiring early and graduates are more likely lier-than-expected retire- that require them to stand died, and he was ready for
comfortable in their retire- to have jobs and to make ment, but less-educated all the time, do repetitive a big change. But after just
ment years, good for them, more money than their less- Americans tend to have hand movements or be in three months of retirement,
but we know they aren’t,” educated peers. Last year, worse health as a group tiring or painful positions. he was bored. “I missed the
said Matt Rutledge, re- for example, the typical than their higher-educated “It’s much easier to work sit- action and working with
search economist at the ting down at a computer smart people,” he said.
Center for Retirement Re- at 65 than in a warehouse,” He started doing consulting
search at Boston College. said Craig Copeland, se- work after people from his
There is a widening gap in nior research associate days with MetLife reached
retirement ages between with the Employee Benefit out to him for help with
college and high-school Research Institute. projects. This gig grew into
graduates, Rutledge says, The federal government Advice Co., which runs
one that is most apparent said on Friday that 19.2 per- the legal-advice site Free-
when looking at the aver- cent of everyone aged 65 Advice.com. Goldsholle is
age age of retirement for and over was employed, CEO of the company and
men. The increasing num- as of September. That’s also travels extensively with
ber of women in the work- tied for the highest rate his wife — he remarried in
force in recent decades since 1962, and it’s nearly 1996 — who says she would
can skew the overall fig- double the level of the mid prefer that he “re-retire.”
ures. 1980s. “But I think she knows that’s
Men with college degrees WHY KEEP WORKING not likely as long as I remain
are retiring at an average Incentives are aligned for healthy and so long as my
age of 65.7, according to people to keep working, colleagues and I feel I am
Rutledge’s calculations even past their mid-60s. making a positive contribu-
based on government The divide between highly- and less-educated Americans When clients at wealth tion,” he said in an interview
data. That’s nearly three begins long before the golden years. adviser Brouwer & Jana- conducted over email.q
Associated Press