Increasing life expectancy and elimination of pensions for most workers are some reasons a growing number of retirees not only work or plan to work in retirement, but want to work, a recent study finds.

Forty-seven percent of retirees say they either have worked or plan to work during retirement, and 72% of pre-retirees age 50+ say they want to keep working after they retire, a Merrill Lynch Retirement Study conducted in partnership with Age Wave finds.

Researchers also point to recent economic uncertainty and re-visioning of later life as reasons for the change in views surrounding retirement.

Re-visioning of later life is coming about as “new generations seek greater purpose, stimulations, social engagement and fulfillment in retirement,” researchers say in the study.

The study also debunked common retirement myths, including that retirement means the end of work, retirement is a time of decline, people work in retirement because they need money and new career ambitions are only for young people.

“Nearly three out of five retirees launch into a new link of work, and working retirees are three times more likely than pre-retirees to be entrepreneurs,” researchers say. “A new generation of working retirees is pioneering a more engaged and active retirement — the New Retirement Workscape — which is comprised of four different phases: Pre-Retirement, Career Intermission, Reengagement and Leisure.

The survey, completed in March 2014, included 1,856 working retirees and nearly 5,000 pre-retirees and non-working retirees.

Access “Work in Retirement: Myths and Motivations” here.

Written by Cassandra Dowell