If you’re like many Americans, your plans for retirement include not retiring – at least not for a few more years.  Sun Life Financial recently released what it calls its “Unretirement Index,” which found that 65% of working Americans not expect to be working at least one year longer than they had previously planned.  That number is up 11% from where it was at the end of 2008, which goes to show that the lingering recession and its aftereffects are hitting hard, not only with those who have lost their jobs, but with everyone.

Sun Life’s report, which was detailed in the December issue of “Employee Benefits Adviser,” was compared with similar findings by Prudential Financial and by Vanguard.  Both company’s findings showed the same trend: more workers thinking that retirement would have to wait at least a year longer than they had previously considered. 

The Sun Life survey went further, finding that a larger percentage of workers expected to continue working full time or part time well into what would have normally been considered their “retirement years” – age 67 and beyond.  And only 40% of the workers surveyed felt that they would have enough money to cover “basic living expenses.” 

We all know that this recession won’t last forever.  Housing prices will rise, and unemployment will get back down to 5% or 6%.  But now that the U.S. Senate has passed its landmark version of the health care reform bill, we’ll have to wait and see what affect that will have on the current economy.   I hate to use the phrase “perfect storm,” but with banks failing left and right, with more and more Americans out of work, it certainly doesn’t seem like the right time to implement a major program that everyone agrees will cost our government and us taxpayers more money.

Regardless of what’s happening in the broader economy, your retirement savings plans are still, for the most part, in your hands.  You have lots of tools at your disposal, so take the time now to make sure that you’re using all of them.  If you have a 401(k) or 403(b), put as much as you can into it.  If you have whole life insurance, make sure you keep up the premium payments and keep that cash value building.  If you can put money into a traditional or Roth IRA, by all means, put as much as you can into it.

And if, like so many of our clients, you are a medical professional, or you own your own business, or you’re an independent contractor, you KNOW that your success is in your hands.  You’ve worked hard over the years to establish yourself, to build a reliable income stream, and to chart your own course for the future.  Take the steps you need to now to make sure that your business is protected and your retirement is plan with retirement planning guide.  It’s the best retirement plan you’ll ever have!