The financial and health benefits of working past age 65

More Australians than ever before are continuing or returning to work beyond their 65^th birthday. Semi-retirement is particularly popular, with more than half of working people in this age group employed part time.

Working beyond what many would consider a traditional retirement age can have benefits for physical and mental health, but the job you do and the reasons for working are important. Staying put for financial reasons or continuing in a job with limited autonomy and low pay can lead to worse health outcomes.

Staying in the workforce almost always means more money in your pocket and the lifestyle improvements that come with it. Whether the financial benefit is enough to keep you working depends on your tax position and the effect additional income will have on any social security benefits you and your partner are entitled to.

How common is work beyond age 65?

According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from September 2025, almost 16% of Australians 65 or older are working or looking for work. A total of 770,000 people in this age group were employed during the month.

A higher proportion of men are working or seeking work than women, with almost one in five men in the workforce versus one in seven women.

In that same period, approximately 56% of older workers were employed part time and the remainder worked full time. This reflects a significant shift to part-time work as we age. Only 21% of workers in the 45–49 age bracket worked part time during the same period.

Australians are also working longer. During the last 20 years, the proportion of people aged 65 or more in the workforce has doubled (from 7.8% in 2005 to 16% in 2025).

Why are we working longer? Part of the reason could be the modernisation of the workforce. The latest available analysis from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) indicates the top three job categories for people in the 65+ age group are professionals, managers and clerical workers. Continuing work in more physical jobs is less common.

Australians today also have longer life expectancy and more expected years of disability-free life. A longer, healthier life means more opportunity to work for longer and a greater financial need to do so, to fund a longer, more active retirement.

Lastly, recent decades have brought increases to the age at which superannuation withdrawals and Age Pension become available. The super preservation age rose from 55 to 60 between 2015 and 2024 and the Age Pension age has increased from 60 to 67 for women and from 65 to 67 for men.

With the availability of these benefits delayed, Australians who can’t afford to retire without them must delay their retirement, and societal expectations about an appropriate age to leave work are adjusted.

The health impact of remaining in the workforce

Findings on the effect of prolonged work on health are a mixed bag.

A 2021 review published by the BMC Public Health journal found that working at 65 and beyond is most likely to have health benefits when work is high quality, well paid and part time. Employees in these roles more often had better physical and mental health than their retired counterparts.