Additional results from a new retirement study conducted by Gray Hair Management (www.grayhairmanagement.com), the country's leading career coaching, networking and job search resource for professionals with base salaries of $75,000 to $300,000+, reveal that 70 percent of America's corporate executives plan to pursue hobbies, travel or golf during their retirement years, and half are planning a post-retirement relocation.
Gray Hair Management's 2007 Executive Retirement Survey was conducted in December 2007 and included almost 1000 senior level executives age 40 or older. Results related to retirement age, financial readiness and top retirement concerns were reported earlier this month, revealing that 75.2 percent of America's corporate executives plan to retire after age 60 and only half believe they are on course, financially, to retire at their planned retirement age. Additionally, health care and finances top their list of retirement concerns.
Leisure Pursuits
Contrary to reports that most baby boomers plan to work or start businesses during retirement, Gray Hair Management found that the majority of corporate executives (70.4 percent) plan to pursue hobbies, travel or play golf in their retirement days. Specifically, 30.9 percent said they plan to pursue hobbies, 25.9 percent plan to travel and 13.6 percent plan to play golf. However, 9.1 percent plan to start a business, 5.7 percent plan to go back to school, 5.4 percent plan to do volunteer work and 3.8 percent plan to work part-time (primarily as teachers or consultants).
"As baby boomer executives postpone retirement until their late sixties, seventies and beyond, it appears that most plan to enjoy leisure pursuits, rather than work, in their post-retirement days," said Scott Kane founder and managing director of Gray Hair Management. "For those who plan to work after retirement, they will pursue volunteer opportunities, entrepreneurial ventures or part-time work as teachers or consultants."
Retirement Relocation
The Gray Hair Management retirement survey also found that 50.7 percent of corporate executives plan to relocate when they retire. Almost 40 percent (38.5 percent) cited climate is the biggest reason for their planned post-retirement move, while 23.5 percent want a smaller home, 17.5 percent said they need to downsize financially and 13 percent want to move closer to family.
Of those who plan to relocate after retirement, 74.4 percent plan to move out of state, with 8.5 percent planning to move to Florida, 7.6 percent to Arizona, 2.7 percent to Texas and 54.1 percent to other states. Additionally, 12.4 percent plan to move within their existing city/area, while 5.6 percent plan to move out of the country.
Gray Hair Management's 2007 Executive Retirement Survey was conducted in December 2007 and included 992 senior level executives aged 40 or older who are members of the Gray Hair Management network.
About Gray Hair Management
Gray Hair Management® is the country's leading career coaching and networking resource for executives and senior managers. Founded in 2000, Gray Hair Management holds monthly face-to-face networking sessions around the country, has more than 6,000 executives and senior managers in its worldwide database and sends over 1,500 monthly job leads and networking opportunities to its Gray Hair Management Network. The company's mission is to help professionals get jobs. Gray Hair Management does this by helping organizations and recruiters around the country find qualified candidates, providing members with networking events and job leads and by coaching clients using its proprietary Pathways Through Transition™ program. Through its corporate services division, Gray Hair Management also offers outplacement and human resource solutions for small to medium-sized businesses. Partners Scott Kane and Jack Heyden speak regularly to corporate executives around the country via networking events, speaking engagements and radio interviews. For more information, please visit www.grayhairmanagement.com.