Seems Like There’s No End to the Work

Most Americans believe they’ll continue working past traditional retirement age out of economic necessity, said Debra Jean Cattani, investment executive at PaineWebber’s Brea office.

Cattani cited a recent PaineWebber study, in which 26% of respondents nationwide said they will need at least $1 million in savings before retiring. She found it encouraging that people “are coming to terms with the fact that they’ll need to work much later than they generally expected, or than their parents worked.”

But she also worries that our culture has yet to shed its prejudices against older workers. “It seems to be that the baby boomers have changed our philosophy on so many things,” she said. “Maybe they’ll be the ones to find it’s OK to age and still work.”

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Patrice Apodaca covers economic issues for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5979 and at patrice.apodaca@latimes.com