Nearly half of New Zealanders want to keep working after they turn 65 - most of them by choice.
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A BNZ Financial Futures survey asked more than 2000 people about their retirement plans and, while 30 percent thought they would need to keep working in order to make ends meet, it found 46 percent want to keep working past the age of 65 because of the value and satisfaction it gives them.
Like 69-year-old Charles William Wayne Boynton, who loved his 20 years as a charter bus driver so much when he turned 65, his birthday came and went without a thought of retirement.
Mr Boynton said he enjoys going places and meeting different people.
"When I turned 65 I felt it was just another year for me, I'm still resonably healthy so I though I'd keep on working and I enjoy the work, so I thought I'd keep going." said Mr Boynton.
Agribusiness banker Paul Buist is 76-years-old and has worked at the BNZ for 26 years.
He has mostly worked in the rural finance sector, meaning he's traveled a lot but helping people is his main motivation.
"Helping people with their issues would be the best part, I enjoy the stimulus that goes with the job and talking to people and hearing their views on what is happening around the place." said Mr Buist
Paul Buist said continuing to work beyond the age of 65 has also had financial benefits and he has been able to afford to travel to visit his children overseas.
His advice for those considering working beyond the retirement age is to have a plan and been open to changes.
"If you'd spoken about being able to talk into a cellphone 20 years ago and actually do your banking on it, amongst other things, it would've been very hard to comprehend how that would happen.
The speed of technological change is been such if it continues at this rate what is very relevant today will be totally obsolete." said Mr Buist
BNZ's director of retail and marketing Paul Carter said people in their 60s and 70s are fitter and healthier than previous generations and keen to work.
"It's not a one size fits all, it's not all about working full time, only 18 percent said it would be full time, but there's part time work and different ways that people later in life feel they have a lot to contribute."
He said for many working was a matter of satisfaction and there were other positives, which were good for the economy as well as for the individuals.
However, he said society should be looking for ways to assist those who felt they had no choice to work in older age just to to pay the bills.
Mr Carter said the survey also pointed to the need for younger people to do financial planning, limit their debt, and pick a KiwiSaver fund of the right sort that would deliver returns in old age.