A majority of Japanese appear willing to work beyond their retirement age due largely to financial concerns, with a recent survey showing 64 percent of respondents wanting to do so.

In an online survey conducted in August by Nippon Life Insurance Co. covering 7,543 policyholders, 38.7 percent said they want to keep working in their current jobs after retirement and 25.3 percent said they would prefer different jobs.

Severe labor shortages are one of the challenges the country faces posed by a rapidly aging population and declining birth rate.

At present, companies are obliged to allow people to work until they turn 65 if they wish. A legal revision to be implemented next April will call on businesses to let their employees work until age 70 as part of efforts to address the workforce shortage.

When asked until when they want to work, 40 percent said sometime between the ages of 65 and 69, followed by 31.2 percent who chose the ages of 60 and 64. Some 11.7 percent said they are ready to work beyond 75.

The survey showed the older people get, the more likely that they prefer their current jobs, with more than half of respondents in their 60s or older saying they want to stay on.

"People nearing retirement tend to be more worried about changing jobs and want to avoid their income falling," said Tomoki Inoue, a researcher at the NLI Research Institute, a group firm of the insurance company.

To prepare for post-retirement life, respondents said they want to save an average ¥30.33 million ($290,000), while 62.1 percent said they do not know how much they would receive in retirement money and pension benefits when they retire.