The Benefits of Working Longer

Delaying retirement for a couple of years—or even a few months— is the most effective way to improve your retirement security.

- SANDRA BLOCK

FINANCIAL PLANNERS AND ANALYSTS HAVE LONG ADVISED WORKERS WHO HAVEN’T saved enough for retirement to work longer. But even if you’ve done everything right— saved the maximum in your retirement plans, lived within your means and stayed out of debt—working a few extra years, even at a reduced salary, could make an enormous difference in the quality of your life in your later years. And given the potential payoff, it’s worth starting to think about how long you plan to continue working—and what you’d like to do—even if you’re a decade or more away from traditional retirement age.

Larry Shagawat, 63, is thinking about retiring from his full-time job, but he’s not ready to stop working. Fortunately, he has a few tricks up his sleeve. Shagawat, who lives in Clifton, N.J., began his career as an actor and a magician. But marriage (to his former magician’s assistant), two children and a mortgage demanded income that was more consistent than the checks he earned as an extra on Law & Order, so he landed a job selling architectural and design products. The position provided his family with a comfortable living.

Now, though, Shagawat is considering stepping back from his high-pressure job so he can pursue roles as a character actor (he’s still a member of the Screen Actors Guild) and perform magic tricks at corporate events. He also has a side gig selling golf products, including a golf cart cigar holder and a vanishing golf ball magic trick, through his website, www.golfworldnow.com. “I’ll be busier in retirement than I am in my current career,” he says.