• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 8, 2011

About 6.2 million Americans, or 15% of adults 65 or older, are working full or part-time. But a new study from Scarborough Research puts the lie to the cliché that most or all of these adults are hard-up.

This group is 7% more likely than the average adult to have annual household income of $150,000 or more, 135% more likely to have a home valued at $350,000 or more and 151% more likely to have a home valued at $500,000 or more.

These "retired for hire" adults, as Scarborough dubs them, also have robust investment portfolios. They are 46% more likely than the average adult to have money market funds, 35% more likely to have bonds, 27% more likely to have mutual funds, 23% more likely to have stocks or stock options and 36% more likely to have a second home or real estate property.

Not surprisingly, they also exceed the national average when it comes to using financial services such as accountants, financial planners and full-service stockbrokers.

More than half (57%) are employed part-time (less than 35 hours per week), versus 43% full-time. They are 143% more likely than average to be small business owners, 140% more likely to be self-employed and 81% more likely to work at home.

As a result, they are anywhere from 32% to 56% more likely to make buying decisions about common business/office services and product categories such as IT, computer hardware/software, business travel, office equipment and overnight delivery services.

While overall technology adoption among these adults somewhat lags the national average, ownership of many digital devices is increasing. Ownership of HDTVs is up 158% (from 19% in 2007 to 49% in 2010), smartphone ownership is up 150% (from 4% to 10%), satellite radio subscriptions are up 125% (from 4% to 9%), and digital camera ownership is up 58% (from 33% to 52%). Nearly three-quarters (71%) own computers, 77% use broadband, 61% access the Net, 81% use wireless phones, 29% use satellite TV and 34% use DVR.

Retired-for-hires are more philanthropic than other groups. Looking at contributions to various types of charities or causes, they index 92% higher for political, 63% higher for arts/cultural, 47% higher for environmental, 31% higher for social care/welfare, 20% higher for other organizations, 17% higher for religious groups, and 15% for healthcare/medical organizations.

They out-index the average adult on a wide variety of "green" indicators, including donating money and time to environmental causes (30% more likely).

They also attend more arts or cultural events: symphony/opera (86% more likely), live theater (35% more likely), art museums (23% more likely) and ballet/dance (20% more likely).

In addition, working seniors are heavily involved in home improvement. They are 13% more likely to have spent $10,000 or more on all home improvements during the past year.

Looking at television viewing, retires for hire index higher than average for programming including religious (39% higher), local evening news (28% higher), national/network shows (26% higher), game shows (24% higher), local morning news (10% higher) and sports (6% higher).

Working seniors are less likely to engage in most Scarborough-measured sports activities, but just as likely as the average adult to belong to a gym. Their top five personal activities, by percentages reporting participating in these in the past year, are gardening (48%); volunteer work (28%); swimming and photography (tied at 19%); bicycling, sewing/crafts and fishing (tied at 14%); and free weights, golf, and adult continuing education (tied at 12%).