--- title: Inflation Is Pushing Many Older Americans Into ‘Un-Retirement’ description: Nearly one-third of retirees are considering part-time jobs, mostly because of inflation and the increased cost of living. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2024-05-29T12:00:52.000Z' modified: '2026-07-16T17:39:40.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 430 canonical: https://money.com/inflation-pushing-retirees-part-time-jobs/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![An elderly couple facing back towards paths of footsetps.](https://img.money.com/2024/05/News-Retiree-Return-Work.jpg) Sponsored by: ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/32972/2752a1d0-fd77-40d3-beaf-2a2126f37476.webp) Make the most of your home with Longbridge Financial. Learn how to access a portion of your home equity and enjoy retirement on your terms. [Go to Longbridge-Financial.com](https://money.com/pr/c0ca918293a2?ap_referrer=%2Finflation-pushing-retirees-part-time-jobs%2F) Nearly a third of retired Americans are thinking about going back to work as the high cost of living eats away at retirement savings. Following three years of elevated inflation, 30% of retirees say they are considering working a temporary job (between one and three shifts per week), according to a [new report](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/retirees-savings-and-side-hustles-almost-one-third-of-retirees-consider-temporary-work-302156671.html) from Indeed Flex, a job search app. Many of these people are worried about outliving their retirement savings. “Increased cost of living is the driving force behind why the aging population is considering un-retirement,” Indeed said in the report, noting that 71.6% of retirees cite inflation as the reason that going back to work is on their mind. Even though [inflation](https://money.com/fed-interest-rate-cuts-predictions-september/) has cooled to an annual rate of 3.4%, down from the peak above 9% in June 2022, just about everything costs more than it did in 2021 when prices started spiking. The jump in the cost of living has been large enough that many older Americans who thought they were financially prepared for retirement are now reassessing if that’s actually the case. Other reasons retired adults are considering temporary work include: personal fulfillment/keeping busy (39.7%), desire for social interaction (35.8%) and insufficient savings (20%). ## Inflation stresses retirees’ budgets The latest data from Indeed confirms what several other studies have found in recent weeks: The high cost of living is stressing retirees’ budgets. Investment management firm [Schroders](//www.schroders.com/en-us/us/institutional/media-center/schroders-retirement-study-finds-inflation-taking-toll-on-retirees/) reports that only 44% of retirees think they’ve [saved enough for retirement](https://money.com/save-for-retirement/) and another 24% are unsure. Meanwhile, 89% of retirees are worried — or at least slightly concerned — about inflation lessening the value of their assets While [Social Security benefits](https://money.com/social-security-cola-2025-increase-payments/) are annually adjusted for changes in the cost of living, retirees also rely on other income in retirement — like 401(k) withdrawals or fixed-income savings — that can be negatively affected by inflation, meaning the money doesn’t go as far as anticipated. More than 20% of retirees and near-retirees increased their retirement account withdrawals between 2021 and 2023 because of inflation, according to a [report](https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/What-Risks-Do-Near-Retirees-and-Retirees-Face-from-Inflation-and-How-Do-They-React-2.pdf) from economists at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The average increase in withdrawals among this cohort was $3,620 over those two years. “A bout of high inflation later in life is generally harmful to financial well-being,” the Boston College economists wrote. “Older households have just had a sharp reminder that inflation may not be stable throughout retirement.” ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-pushing-retirees-part-time-jobs/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Inflation Is Pushing Many Older Americans Into ‘Un-Retirement’" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-pushing-retirees-part-time-jobs/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/inflation-pushing-retirees-part-time-jobs/", "name": "Inflation Is Pushing Many Older Americans Into ‘Un-Retirement’", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-05-29T12:00:52.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-pushing-retirees-part-time-jobs/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-pushing-retirees-part-time-jobs/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-07-16T17:39:40.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Inflation Is Pushing Many Older Americans Into ‘Un-Retirement’", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/05/News-Retiree-Return-Work.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Retiree-Return-Work" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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