My dad retired at age sixty-three and went from working fifty-plus hours a week to golfing five days a week and enjoying a life of leisure, not working at all. After a few years enjoying his golden years, he started to talk about maybe volunteering. Unfortunately, he died a year later and never got to explore this option. His retirement lasted only three years.

In contrast, I retired from my full-time career four years ago and now work part-time teaching, coaching and writing, as well as having more time for leisure and volunteering. Times have changed. Whatever the reasons-financial, social engagement, identity, structure-the number of people who desire to work after traditional "retirement" is growing. "The New Flexible Retirement" a collaborative report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement, found that sixty-four percent of American workers now expect to retire at sixty-five or later, or not at all. The report surveyed 16,000 people in fifteen countries and offers suggestions for employers and policymakers to help older workers transition into retirement.

The Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies lists the following key points of the study.

• The mindset of working beyond traditional retirement age varies around the world. The survey found that 64 percent of workers in the U.S. now expect to retire at age 65 or later, or not at all. This is in stark contrast to some countries: in Japan, 43 percent of survey respondents aspire to continue working past retirement compared to only 15 percent in France.
• More than half of workers (61 percent U.S.; 56 percent globally) envision a flexible transition to retirement. Of those age 55 and older, 66 percent in the U.S. share this vision, with an even higher proportion of younger workers thinking they will have a flexible transition to retirement.
• Workers indicate that their employers are doing little to help them phase into retirement. The survey found that of workers age 55 and older, only 25 percent in the U.S. say their employers offer the opportunity to shift from full-time to part-time working arrangements as they phase into retirement.
• Despite the lack of pre-retirement assistance from employers, workers age 55 and older are nevertheless loyal. Many say they feel a strong sense of belonging to their employer (44 percent U.S.; 48 percent globally.

Retiring about twenty years after my dad did, my expectations were quite different from his. I expected to combine meaningful work with more free time for other pursuits. As workers, employers and policy makers explore how to make the best use of the talents and desires of the "post traditional-retirement" workers, we all benefit.