Survey: business owners more likely to want to continue working in retirement

Just one in four former business owners does not want to work at all in retirement.

A new survey of retirement-age seniors by pension provider Ilmarinen finds that most pensioners would like to do paid work one or two days a week. People with a background in business ownership were particularly eager to work.

Of retirement-age business owners, only 23% do not want to do paid work at all after retirement.

For comparison, the corresponding figure among former senior clerical workers was 27%.

When all respondents were asked what employer they would like to work for or for what employer they have worked in retirement, 12% said they would like to be self-employed.

The survey found that over half of pensioners consider themselves well and to have transitioned naturally to retirement. Respondents for whom work played a special role, such as business owners, found retiring the most difficult.

The survey by Ilmarinen examined questions related to anticipation of retirement such as pensioners’ well-being, financial standing and thoughts about their housing situation.

A total of 1,267 pensioners responded to the survey in December–January. The response rate was 43%. Some respondents had been retired for 2–4 months, some for over a year, and some for over five years.

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