(1888PressRelease)
October 24, 2009 - The company today unveiled a Massachusetts-specific version of its national UnretirementSM Index, which reports only 39 percent of Massachusetts workers believe they will be retired at the traditional retirement age of 67 - lower than the national Index findings of 44 percent. In addition, 60 percent believe they will be working full- or part-time at 67, which is five percent more than the national Index results.
When Massachusetts workers do retire, the Unretirement Index found that almost half (44 percent) plan to do it away from Massachusetts - a sentiment even more prevalent in younger workers. Of those polled, 52 percent of people in their thirties and 63 percent of people in their twenties plan to retire outside of Massachusetts. The high cost of living was cited as the most popular reason to retire elsewhere with other top reasons being the state's taxes and housing costs. In fact, four of the top five reasons for not retiring in Massachusetts were cost-related.
Asked what issues the state could address to improve the chances of a comfortable retirement for Massachusetts workers, financial issues again topped the list. Sixty four percent cited taxes and 59 percent cited the cost of living. In addition, 50 percent mentioned the quality and cost of healthcare and 45 percent named the cost of housing. Full results can be viewed at www.unretirementindex.com.
"The nature of work and retirement is transforming rapidly in Massachusetts just as it is across the country," said Wes Thompson, President of Sun Life Financial U.S. "Unretirement is now a reality for Bay State workers, and while we are working longer than our counterparts across the country, personal and lifestyle considerations play a larger part in our retirement choices than it does for other Americans. And while Massachusetts is a great place to work and live, financial costs here are high and could have a long-term negative effect on younger workers' decision to remain here."
The Index also indicates concerns among Massachusetts workers about their retirement planning. Only 25 percent are very confident they have done a good job preparing for retirement - slightly less than the national average (28%). In addition, only 23 percent are very confident they will be able to take care of medical expenses and less than half (39%) are very confident they will have enough money for basic living expenses in retirement. Overall, only 27 percent of Massachusetts workers are very confident they will be able to live the kind of life they want in retirement.
Sun Life's research also found the reasons for working past traditional retirement age are personal as well as financial. The most popular reason given by 82 percent of Massachusetts workers was, "to earn enough money to live well." However, the other top reasons for continuing to work were more personal in nature, including "to stay mentally engaged" (cited by 80% of respondents), "I love my career" (63%), "to be close to people" (63%), and "not ready to end my career" (60%).
Unretirement is defined as working at least 20 hours per week after the age when one is eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Sun Life created this Index to learn more about why Massachusetts workers are choosing to "unretire," or continue to work full- or part-time after the age of traditional retirement. Sun Life first unveiled its national Unretirement Index in October of 2008.
Read more:
http://www.sunlife-usa.com/sun/sl_6.cfm?oid=783844B1-B360-2F19-6
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