The American dream used to be to get rich young and retire by the age of 40. However, the results of a recent survey by the Spectrem Group indicate that the current goal for many wealthy Americans is to work past the age of 70. This survey revealed that America’s uppermost wage earners do not plan on retiring until they are at least this old. A third of those surveyed who have annual earnings of $750,000 or more, claim they will not retire until after they turn 70. Of that group, 15% say they never plan to step down. On the other hand, the same survey showed that only 6% of those making under $100,000 a year say they plan to work that long.
Another study from Barclays done in 2010 found that more than half of millionaires say they want to continue to work past the traditional age for retirement. Internationally, 60% of those with a net worth of $15 million or more say they plan to stay involved with work indefinitely. These results diverge from the popular idea that Americans retire later primarily because they cannot afford to stop working. On the contrary, the Barclays survey showed that those who are working the longest are the highest earners or the ones who can best afford to retire.
Many of the high wage earners surveyed by both Spectrem and Barclays are business owners and entrepreneurs. As a group, these individuals are far more likely to take risks in their finances and their life, and they are more likely to credit hard work for their success. It may be this mind-set that makes them want to keep working longer.
George Walper, President of the Spectrem Group, attributes two reasons to the late retirement of the rich. First, he believes that business owners feel they simply cannot leave their businesses for fear that their companies with fail without them. However, his research has shown that the main reason these entrepreneurs keep working is that they love their work and cannot imagine life without it. Walper added that even those top earners who say they are retired still contribute by serving on boards, giving advice to their companies or consulting by phone several hours a day. In addition, instead of working at the office, they may be doing business from a more comfortable spot like the beach.
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