Many Americans Try Retirement, Then Change Their Minds

A 2017 survey from RAND Corporation, the non-profit research firm, found almost 40 percent of workers over 65 had previously, at some point, retired, reports the New York Times . Dr. Nicole Maestas, an economist at Harvard Medical School, used longitudinal data from the national Health and Retirement Study to find that the decision to resume working does not usually stem from unexpected financial problems or health expenses. "It looks like something people are doing intentionally, instead of an oh-my-god response: 'I'm running out of money; I have to go back to work,'" she said. "It's much more about a choice." Longer lives, better health, and less physically taxing jobs than in previous generations help provide that choice, Dr. Maestas pointed out.