A new report has found that more and more older adults embrace the idea of phased retirement.

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A report has found that boomers plan to work past the traditional retirement years of 62 to 65, but they would prefer not to work on a full-time or year-round basis. Those findings echo feedback from many Encore.org members who say that flexibility is an important consideration in their encore careers.

Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes and Michael A. Smyer, co-directors of the Center on Aging and Work/Workplace Flexibility at Boston College, and Chantel Sheaks, legislative counsel for Tax and Benefits for the Workplace Flexibility 2010 campaign at Georgetown University dive headlong into the issue, examining in detail the actual experiences of older workers and employers as well as the legal ramifications of phased retirement in their Legal and Research Summary Sheet: Phased Retirement.

Boomers say they want to keep working for a host of reasons: the effect of the recession on their savings, their improving health and longevity and, increasingly, the chance to engage in meaningful work. A Merrill Lynch survey conducted by Harris Interactive & Dychtwald in 2006 found that 38 percent of boomers want to be able to cycle in and out of work. Seventeen percent wanted to work part time and only 5 percent wanted to work full time. A total of 21 percent said they never wanted to work again.

While a phased retirement – moving from full-time to part-time work or working part of each year and, eventually, to total retirement - seems appealing, both employers and older workers have questions about how well it works.

The Boston College report found that some of the key issues associated with phased retirement for employees are:

• Access to pension or retirement benefits for employee who reduce their hours
• Eligibility in employer-sponsored employee benefit plans (such as health care)
• The impact of reduced hours (and pay) on final, full retirement benefits from a pension or retirement plan

For employers, some areas of concern are:

• Ensuring that a pension plan remains qualified if it allows individuals to receive partial distributions before full retirement or age 62
• Limiting administrative burdens for both the pension or retirement plan
• Limiting the employer's exposure to potential lawsuits that may result from a formal phased retirement program

One of the conclusions in the report: "It is clear that this is a time of transition in the area of phased retirement."