A new survey indicates that most middle class Americans plan to save up a specific amount before retiring and put less emphasis on a given retirement age.  Many even plan to work into their eighties in order to live comfortably in retirement.

The survey results, released by Wells Fargo, indicate that three-fourths of middle class Americans expect to work in their retirement years. About 54 percent of those aged 40 to 59 say that they will need to work in retirement to live comfortably in their golden years, and only 25 percent say they will work in retirement because they want to. A quarter of all respondents said they will need to work past aged 80 in order to maintain a comfortable quality of life in retirement.

“The fact that the vast majority of middle class Americans expect to work well past the traditional retirement age has significant societal and economic implications,” said Joe Ready, director of Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust. “Will people be physically and mentally able to work later in life? What will it mean for young people entering the workforce? And, how does our system of retirement savings need to be reformed to help reduce the savings gap?”

The median retirement savings goal was 350,000 dollars, while 29 percent of people in their 60s have saved less than 25,000 dollars for retirement. Furthermore, respondents significantly underestimated the cost of the healthcare expenses they will likely pay in their retirement. Most of those surveyed estimated a median of 60,000 dollars in costs, while only 20 percent estimated 100,000 dollars or more, which is a more accurate prediction for health care costs.

Read the press release describing the findings, 80 Is The New 65 For Many Middle Class Americans When It Comes To Retirement, Wells Fargo Retirement Survey Finds.

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