A significant proportion of people plan on working past the age of 65 according to this survey. The findings reflect the current views and expectations of Australians in relation to employment, retirement and financial security. 

The survey finds that retirement is not an 'off switch' as it has seen to be in the past, but varies greatly by the individual and their circumstances. Australians from all age groups say they want to maintain part-time or casual work in retirement in order to keep occupied. While this intention was strongest amongst working Australians aged 18 to 34 (almost 40%) a full quarter of people still working at aged 65+ valued work for the social connection and stimulation enough to want to maintain some form of work.

A lesser proportion of people across all age groups believe they will need to continue to work part-time or casually in retirement due to financial necessity, with numbers relatively consistent across age groups.

These results point to the importance of policy settings to accommodate differences in preferences among older Australians, and to help boost the superannuation savings of those on lower incomes. It is recommended current rules preventing an individual from both contributing to and drawing from on a single superannuation account must be updated to reflect the more flexible needs of today's workers.

Key findings

• The ‘cliff-edge’ of working until retirement age and then stopping work completely is long gone.
• Financial circumstances are not the only considerations that shape retirement pathways.
• More than 20% of workers retire before 60. For some this is due to ill health or in order to care for family members. 
• A substantial minority of older Australians remain engaged in the workforce. 33% of people aged 65 to 69 and 8% of people aged 70+ are either employed or actively looking for work,
• Of those aged 65+ and still working, around 25% do so for non-financial reasons, in particular, to stay socially engaged. 
• 14% of over 65s who are still working believe they will never be able to retire due to financial reasons.