Silver Collar Workforce

The golden years of retirement are supposed to be full of time with the grandkids, cruises around the world, indulging in those hobbies you never had time for at work. But that was then. Retirement now isn't what it used to be. For one thing, more people are choosing not to retire at all and many Americans can't afford to.

The number of older Americans in the workforce is growing so much that businesses are slowly waking up to the new wave of "silver collar" employees working well into their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Baby boomers — nearly 78 million of them — better health and increased longevity are part of the picture. But so are economic insecurity, and the need to shore up meager retirement savings.

Hear about the benefits and challenges that come with the growing ranks of silver-collar workers.

Guests:

Peter Coy, economics editor, BusinessWeek

Sara Rix, Public Policy Initiative, AARP

Victor Marshall, director of the University of North Carolina Institute on Ageing and director of the US Workforce Ageing in the New Economy group.