Satisfaction, Not Money, Drives Most Older Workers

DES MOINES, Iowa - For medical office manager Sue Stein, working past the typical retirement age was a choice she made because she's still having fun at her job and likes the lively banter with the young medical students around her.

Stein, 69, is among the growing number of retirement-age Americans who have chosen work over leisure.

"I enjoy it," she said of her job at Stanford Hospital & Clinics in Palo Alto, Calif. "I also believe that it's better to keep your mind active. I look around at friends that don't work and I have a much broader horizon, a bigger view of the world, more people in my world than they do."

A new survey conducted by the U.S. division of Toronto-based Sun Life Financial Inc. shows nearly half of the workers in the United States expect to be working at the traditional retirement age of 67, but like Stein, most say it's not just because of money.

The random telephone survey of 1,515 workers indicated that 48 percent of workers believe they will still be working either full- or part-time at age 67. The most cited reason among them - declared by 83 percent - was to stay mentally engaged.

The second most common reason cited was to earn enough money to live well, cited by 77 percent of workers.

Other top reasons for continuing to work into retirement were love of career and staying close to people.

Keeping health care benefits was another commonly stated reason.