What will the average retiree do?

Across the nation, millions of older active Americans are retiring old notions of what it means to be retired. They are reinventing retirement. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports: Only 13 percent of American workers were 55 and older in 2000. By 2006, that figure will increase to 15 percent, and by 2015 one in five (20 percent) of all U.S.
According to a 2002 AARP survey of employed workers aged 45 to 74:   *The majority (69 percent) of those interviewed plan to continue working beyond traditional retirement age.  *More than a third (34 percent) of the total sample said they would work part-time for interest or enjoyment.  *19 percent said they would work at part-time jobs for necessary income. *10 percent plan to start their own businesses. *6 percent would change careers and work full-time doing something else.   *Less than a third. (28 percent) of older workers said they would not work at all after they reach retirement age.

Experts say that the revolution is fueled by the fact that today's 50-plus population is generally healthier and wealthier than its forebears and has many more opportunities open to it. And they say that work—both paid and unpaid—is at the center of this trend. The survey found that seven out of 10 workers 45 and older plan to work during their retirement years.
The Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000 eliminates the Retirement Earnings Test, which limited the income a senior citizen could earn without a reduction or loss of Social Security benefits.

For many years retirement was thought of as the end. It is more beneficial to think of this life transition as a beginning. It can be a time to take advantage of opportunities we couldn't take advantage of before.