As retirement becomes more faceted, with some people choosing to work at least partially through their retirement, plan participants need more help with their retirement planning than ever before. Companies, meanwhile, may want to consider 'step-down' work programs that can benefit both the company and late-career employees.

Many benefits teams don't proactively reach out to plan participants in the decades approaching retirement, said Brandy Marion, institutional wealth education manager at BOK Financial®. But they should, she added. 'I would suggest plan sponsors check in with employees every 10 years to see if they are on track and then at age 50, get very detailed about creating a plan for retirement,' she explained.

Employers, meanwhile, can benefit from older employees' institutional knowledge, as well as the depth of experience and skills that younger employees may lack, experts note. One option for accomplishing this is through an ambassador program for retirees, in which they can retain connections and continue to contribute to the company. Another option is a 'step-down' program, which gives late-career employees a reduced workload while helping them maintain a sense of purpose and identity but also helping the company retain the institutional knowledge of a long-time contributor.

As Marion explained, for employers, there are the benefits of retaining the employee's knowledge and experience while utilizing their mentoring ability for the next generation. Meanwhile, employees can benefit from slowly transitioning their monthly budget from wages to retirement savings, staying on a workplace health plan until Medicare begins and retaining the social benefits of working, she said.