People define retirement in different ways, but generally, the gist is that you're no longer working.

For the current generation of retirees, that is largely the case. Among currently retired people, 71% say they're not working in any capacity, according to CNBC's August 2024 Your Money retirement survey conducted with SurveyMonkey. Among those who are working, 17% say they're doing so by choice, with just 11% reporting working because they have to.

The next generation of retirement savers seems less eager to relax once they leave their 9-to-5. Just 11% of would-be retirees surveyed by CNBC say they don't plan to work in any capacity after they retire. More than a third of respondents — 36% — say they're not sure, while the majority, 53%, anticipate working, either because they'll want to or to supplement their income.

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Working in retirement may be a savvy move for younger would-be retirees, not only on a financial level but on a personal one, says Jamie Bosse, a certified financial planner and senior advisor at CGN Advisors in Manhattan, Kansas.

"What's interesting about retirement is, a lot of people don't like it when they first do it, because so much of their identity was tied up in their work," she says. "And they have this identity crisis, like, who am I — this old man who plays tennis sometimes? So a lot of people seek to have some form of work or schedule in retirement."

Here's why it could be a smart thing to plan on.

Delaying full retirement shifts the odds in your favor

Researchers at Morningstar recently modeled retirement outcomes for American workers and found that 45% of U.S. households were likely to run out of money in retirement.

But staying at your job longer or picking up some working income in retirement can drastically boost your odds of making your money last as long as you need it, says Spencer Look, associate director of retirement studies at Morningstar Retirement.

Indeed, only about 28% of households will fall short in retirement if retiring at 70, according to Morningstar's model, compared with 45% if retiring at 65.

"It can be pretty dramatic for people. You see the results retiring at 70," Look recently told Make It. "It's not possible for everyone. But even working a little bit part time if you don't have enough savings is something that could be helpful."

It's easy to see why working longer helps. The longer you work, the more time you have to ostensibly save a portion of your income in retirement accounts, and the less time you need to be withdrawing from them. In other words, you have more money to use for a shorter retirement.

What's more, delaying retirement boosts another form of post-working-years income: Social Security. For anyone born after 1960, full Social Security benefits — meant to replace about 40% of your pre-retirement income — kick in at age 67. You can retire as early as 62 and received a reduced payout. Wait until age 70, meanwhile, and the Social Security Administration will boost your benefit by 8% for each year you wait.

Working in retirement can be fulfilling

Notably, of the 53% of retirement savers who plan to work in retirement, about half say they'll need the extra income. The other half plan to work because they think they'll want to.

Whether you're working because you want to or because you have to, a job in retirement doesn't have to be something you dread, says Gerika Espinosa, a CFP with DMBA in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"There's a lot of fallacy that we can only have jobs we don't enjoy," she says. "[Getting over that] helps people a lot because a lot of people in retirement struggle with purpose in general."

For clients who are falling short of their goals for income in retirement, Espinosa lays out the income they need to cover the shortfall, which could be significantly less than they made during their career working full-time.

"It changes the paradigm to, 'We only need this much money, and it can be a job I enjoy,'" she says.

But even if you don't need the money, having a job can be a great way to stay connected with your passions while keeping busy.

And that doesn't have to mean doing something akin to the high-power, high-stress job you had during your working years, says Bosse. "Maybe you're working more like a 20-hour-a-week job that kind of supports what you want to do, but still allows you to save a little bit."

For one client of Espinosa's, that meant working part-time at an outdoors store, where he could spend all day shooting the breeze about fishing with customers.

"Plus, he loves getting all the discounts," she says. "He's thrilled about it."

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