New research from Standard Life reveals that 66% of adults aged 65-74 want to be working, at least part-time, in retirement.
This compares to just 54% in this age group who said they would like to go travelling or on holidays, and 44% who said they want to spend time with their partner and family.
32% adults under the age of 44 said they would like to spend their retirement relaxing and getting pampered – but this falls to just 15% for those aged 65-74. 9% of adults aged 65-74 say they would like to start a business in retirement – but this is the case for just 3% approaching retirement age (45-64).
Those approaching retirement are showing themselves to be increasingly ‘tech savvy’, the firm said. Around five times as many people used Standard Life’s online tools to explore their retirement options in the first week of pensions reforms compared to the previous month. Customers are using the online tools to ‘play’ with different scenarios, helping them to fully understand the impact of their decisions – whether that’s taking cash for a luxury holiday or balancing a small flexible income with a new part time job. In the first week of pension reforms alone, over 1500 customers transacted online with Standard Life.
Jamie Jenkins, pensions spokesperson at Standard Life, said: “The research shows that for many the dreams of retirement can significantly differ from the reality. The desire to work in particular was quite surprising and is likely down to two reasons – either missing the buzz and camaraderie of the work environment, or perhaps not putting enough aside for their pension in their working life and deciding that they need more cash to play with.
“One thing is for sure, the fact that pensions has recently been so high on the news has spurred many into action to start thinking about their pension – the number of people looking at our online tools is up around 550%; it’s great to see that people are realising the importance of researching all the options before making a decision regarding their retirement.”