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A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 9 OcTOber 2018

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

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