69% of Workers Plan to Hold Down a Job in Retirement. For Many of Them, That’s Not a Choice.

Many of us are used to grinding out way through a job for many years because, well, that's sort of what we have to do. But it's also easy to see why the idea of working in retirement is unappealing to a lot of people.

After all, you've held down a job your entire life. You deserve to enjoy a stretch of time when work doesn't come into the picture.

But unfortunately, a large number of workers today may end up having to hold down a job in retirement — whether they want to or not. A recent Nationwide survey found that 69% of workers today think they might work as retirees, and 44% of them expect to have to work in order to have enough retirement income.

Given that Social Security cuts are on the table, and that many people enter retirement with inadequate savings, it's easy to see why working later in life might seem inevitable. So if that's something you don't want to do, saving aggressively throughout your career might spare you that fate. But even if you end up having to work as a retiree, you should know that you might reap a world of benefits beyond the paycheck you collect.

You may not be doomed to having to work

If you're on the cusp of retirement with no income to look forward to other than Social Security benefits, then yes, you may have no choice but to take a job. But if you still have ample time to build savings, then doing so could spare you from having to work down the line.

Let's say you're 35 years old with no savings yet. If, from this point until age 65, you manage to sock away $400 a month, and your savings generate an average annual 7% return, which is a bit below the stock market's average, you'll wind up with a nest egg worth over $453,000.

That could spell the difference between having to hold down a job later in life, or being able to spend your retirement doing exactly what you want to do.

Working in retirement has its benefits

Working as a retiree may not be ideal in your book. But you should know that having a job during your senior years might benefit you aside from the income boost it will allow for.

First of all, work is something that might get you out of the house. That alone is a positive thing. And working might also serve as a social outlet, the importance of which can't be ignored.

Many retirees struggle with feelings of boredom and isolation — especially those who spend their careers working in an office with other people. To go from that to not having structure or a social network can be jarring, but working in retirement on a part-time basis helps solve for those things.

In fact, even if you do manage to build yourself a nice nest egg, you might still decide to work in some capacity during retirement. In that scenario, you'll have the option to prioritize meaningful work over better-paying work, and that's a good thing. But you may be surprised at the value working brings to the table — even if you don't actually need the money.

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