Will unwilling pensioners be left in workforce?

Unless you are in a limited subset of high income men aged over 50, it is likely you may be contemplating working into your 70s to fund your retirement.

That is the bottom line of new research released by Willis Towers Watson which has confirmed that the number of Australian workers believing they will not retire before the age of 70 is growing.

The research, the 2015/16 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, has revealed that two out of five employees expect to work to age 70 or older but, perhaps ironically, the research also suggests these people are less physically and mentally prepared to do so.

It said that they tended to be less healthy, less engaged, and less productive.

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Commenting on the results, Willis Towers Watson senior consultant David McNeice suggested this was reflective of the fact that there were significant short and long-term financial stresses for Australian employees, with inadequate retirement incomes a major factor.

"In Australia in 1993, eight per cent of the population aged over 65 were in employment," he said. "Today, that rate has increased to 17 per cent."

"The number of current employees planning to retire later continues to increase, driven by fears of inadequate retirement savings," McNeice said. "There are clear warning signs of a potential problem of hidden pensioners being employed, unable to retire and yet much less productive in the workplace."

Of the developed nations covered by the survey, Australia ranked the highest among employees who believed they would still be working at age 70 with 52 per cent of Australian employees agreeing, compared to South Korea (51 per cent), the US (50 per cent), UK (46 per cent), and the Netherlands (45 per cent).