Wells Fargo released the results  from its seventh annual Retirement Survey. Here is what they found:

• A quarter (25%) of middle class Americans say they will “need to work until at least age 80” to live comfortably in retirement
• Three-fourths (74%) of middle class Americans expect to work in their retirement years, including 39% of all respondents who will need to work to make ends meet or maintain their lifestyles, while 35% say they will work because they want to, rather than out of financial need.
• Among middle class Americans age 40 to 59, 54% say they will “need to work,” compared to 34% of those age 25 to 39. Accordingly, only 25% of those between the ages of 40 and 59 say they will work in retirement because they “want to,” versus 45% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 39.
• Of the Americans who will work in retirement, 47% say they will do “similar work” to their pre-retired years, while 42% say they will work in a position that requires “less responsibility.”

Since the average American life expectancy is 77.9 years (see CDC link), most of us will need to work past it.

Welcome to the ‘New Normal’.