How to keep experienced older workers from retiring

Experienced older workers will retire eventually, but a recent study suggests how employers could persuade some of them to stick around for a few more years.

It all comes down to offering a specific type of work environment – one that includes autonomy, participation in decision-making, information sharing, training opportunities and good compensation and benefits. 

The nine-year study of more than 750,000 federal workers over the age of 50 found that employees with high-quality work environments were especially likely to delay retirement if they didn’t have a college degree and weren’t managers.

“As people age, research shows that they have a stronger preference for autonomy and control in their jobs, they want to feel respected and listened to,” said Kaifeng Jiang, lead author of the study and associate professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.

“Jobs like that may be especially appealing to those with less education and who don’t have managerial experience because they may feel the need to keep high-quality jobs more than others.”

 The findings were published online recently in the journal Personnel Psychology.

Results showed that older employees were less likely to contemplate retirement after the Great Recession of 2008, especially if they had these high-quality jobs.

The researchers used data from 754,856 employees aged 50 and older from more than 360 U.S. government agencies participating in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from 2006-15.

April 15 is deadline to correct 2021 retirement savings mistakes

The IRS cautions that April 15 is the deadline to correct mistakes in contributions to 401(k), 403(b), SARSEP and Simple IRA plans.

The limit for 2021 was $19,500, plus $6,500 for those age 50 and over.

Those who exceeded the limit must contact administrators to arrange to withdraw the extra, plus earnings, by the deadline.

If the funds aren’t withdrawn, the amount is taxed in the year it was deferred and again in whichever year it is withdrawn.

Go to: bit.ly/IRSDeferralMistakes.