Chris and Ray Stokes had expected to cruise into retirement.
They moved to Idaho from Bend, Ore., in 2005 to be near family and built a spacious home in Star. Ray Stokes had gathered a sizable nest egg from two retirements and a golden parachute as an engineer with phone companies. He calculated his net worth at around $1 million.
They thought they would be retired by 2010.
?We were on the right path,? Chris Stokes said.
Then the recession hit. Falling investment values robbed the Stokeses of more than half of their retirement funds ? and put retirement on hold.
Today the Stokeses are still working. They help their daughter, who has a medical billing service, and have started a business of their own scanning records for clients and putting them on discs. And they are careful with their pennies.
?This is the way it is,? Chris Stokes said. ?(We are) not the only ones this has happened to.?
The stock market crash in 2008 and 2009, high debt and concerns about leaving jobs in hard economic times are forcing many to rethink retirement.
A survey released last month by the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows that only 14 percent of Americans believe that they will have enough money to retire comfortably, a historic low for a survey that has not changed significantly since 2009.
?Workers are planning on working longer because many have virtually no savings,? said Steve Blakely, a spokesman for the institute, an organization that does research and education for development of employee benefit programs.
The survey found that:
? 60 percent of workers have less than $25,000 in savings and investments, not counting homes and pension plans.
? 12 percent of retirees consider debt a major problem.
? The poor economy, lack of confidence in Social Security and changes in employment are among the top reasons for delaying retirement.
? More than half of workers aren?t confident about landing a job after they retire.
? Nearly half of retirees left the job market sooner than expected because of issues such as poor health and job loss.
About 14 percent of Idahoans older than 65 are either working or looking for work, according to a 2010 U.S. Census report. Nationally the number was about 17 percent in 2009, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
Reasons for staying in the workforce vary. Some people are simply not interested in giving up their careers and some are like the Stokeses, meaning their finances took a major hit in the recession.
For some, continuing to show up for work every day is satisfying, said Sara E. Toevs, director of Boise State University?s Center for the Study of Aging. They say, ?I want to continue to feel needed,? she said.
For others, it is a matter of economic necessity.
Arline Shirk, 63, works as an administrative assistant and is part of Experience Works in Boise, a federally funded program that helps train low-income people older than 55 to get jobs. Her time at the program ends in May, and she has been looking for work without success, in part because of health problems.
Shirk has considered taking early Social Security payments, but she?s also certain she won?t be able to retire.
?I?m kind of desperate here,? she said.
The average monthly Social Security check in Idaho was $1,045 in 2009, according to AARP Idaho. Social Security made up half of the income of two-thirds of Idahoans age 65 or older that year. For nearly a third of them, it was the only source of income.
?That is not surprising, given a lot of people lost equity in their homes during the recession and ... 401(k)s took a major hit,? said Angela Cortez, AARP Idaho interim state director.
The Stokeses are both drawing Social Security. Between the business and their government checks, they take in about $4,500 a month.
In many ways, the Stokeses are more fortunate than many older Americans.
?We are still able to work, and I love what I do,? Chris Stokes said.
But there are also challenges. First was the shock of watching their plan fray. It took them at least two years to realize that their situation wasn?t going to improve, said Chris Stokes, an AARP volunteer. Now, the couple try to avoid drawing down their savings more than necessary. They think twice about turning out for a dinner and wine tasting that includes opening the checkbook to help a worthy cause ? not an easy choice for a couple who say they have always believed in giving something back.
The Stokeses recently took a vacation in the Southwest, but it took them more than a year to save for it, and it could be awhile before they take another one.
The couple built their house at the height of the Treasure Valley market and now owe more on it than it?s worth. A few weeks ago, a major client of theirs in the medical billing business closed its doors. So Chris Stokes, who has been a teacher in the past, is starting to look for another job, possibly as a substitute.
?I see both of us working for the next five years,? she said. ?I don?t have a projected retirement date.?
But it could be worse, her husband said.
?I?m still standing,? he said.
Bill Roberts: 377-6408
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