Take just two examples, original Star Trek stars William Shatner, 80, (Captain Kirk) and Leonard Nimoy, 80, (his first officer, Mr Spock).

Nimoy recently announced that he had probably attended his last Star Trek convention. And Shatner responded in an interview with The Wall Street Journal's SmartMoney in the US that he intended to work for the rest of his life.

Certainly, attending Star Trek annual conventions year after year would understandably induce some people to retire - after all, there have been 45 of them.

Of course, the views of Shatner and Nimoy about retirement colourfully reflect a much-wider debate taking place throughout the world.

The GFC, followed by highly volatile markets and concerns about a global economic recovery are triggering much discussion about whether or not to postpone retirement.

From a financial perspective, there is at least a double benefit from delaying retirement: an opportunity to save more while fewer years in retirement means that less money is needed to achieve a satisfactory living standard than would otherwise be required.

An ABS report, Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia 2008-09 - unfortunately, the latest available - found that 13 per cent of Australians over 45 did not intend to ever retire, while another 9 per cent were yet to decide whether to ever retire.

The report revealed quite a deal of uncertainty in the workforce about retirement plans. Of those who intended to retire at some time in the future, 38 per cent did not have a retirement age in mind.

And of those who nominated an intended retirement age, 46 per cent aimed to retire at ages 65-69, 29 per cent at 60-64, 12 per cent at 55-59, 12 per cent at 70 plus and the remainder at 45-54.

In December, the ABS expects to release an updated Retirement and Retirement Intentions Report. Smart Investing expects that those intending to retire close to their 70th birthday could markedly rise.

Economic issues aside, many people gain great satisfaction from their work

By Robin Bowerman
Smart Investing
18th October  2011
Principal & Head of Retail, Vanguard Investments Australia