For retiree, it's a choice to work or worry

MERCEDES - Augustin Torres is a different kind of retiree: One who is still working full-time.

The 61-year-old is vibrant and healthy, a talkative former migrant farmhand who worked for 26 years with the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.

In his fluourescent-lit office and behind a desk covered in reports and binders, a whiteboard displays a long and complex to-do list.

A year ago, he was at home, a man of leisure getting bored and becoming more and more resentful as the economic downturn ate away at his state/">state pension payments.

"Gas, food, energy - everything kept going up except the retirement check," he said.

Torres and his wife, Diana, a retired barber, were not going hungry. Thanks to Torres' near-religious devotion to living "below our means" and Diana's careful bookkeeping, they were getting by.

But they were frustrated that a life of hard work had led to a stressful retirement. He worried that one car repair or medical bill would imperil their financial health.

"I said, ‘Resentment is not going to help anybody - let's look for some answers.'"

So, last October, he found a new job, overseeing nutrition and transportation at Amigos del Valle, a nonprofit organization that provides food and social services to seniors in Cameron, Willacy and Hidalgo counties.

Torres said he is happy at work, because he found an office with a good environment where he can make a difference.

At work, "I have challenges and opportunities to exercise my mind," he said. And while crunch times can be stressful, it's not the "ugly, hateful type of stress. It's positive, challenging stress where you like what you're doing."

Across the country, older workers are facing the same choices Torres did: Live worried, or return to work?

While many pension funds are secure, their buying power has fallen as prices rise. Those with private retirement savings have seen the value of their nest eggs reduced by the turbulent stock market.

McAllen financial adviser Arthur Hughes said that workers who have planned well for their retirements should not have to go back to work to make ends meet. However, he said, "you're always going to need to make adjustments to (your) spending pattern based on the economic issues."

A long-term strategy should include a savings cushion to get retirees through tough economic times, with the assumption that the economy will improve over time, he said.

But with gas prices eating into that cushion, it was hard not to worry, Torres said.

In the end, he said, he was still willing and able to work, perhaps until he is 67, when he is sure he will retire again.

"We don't need a Cadillac. A Chevrolet or a Ford is fine," he said. "It would have been OK, but my wife deserves more than OK."