More Americans are planning on holding off on retirement by at least one year, according to data from Sun Life Financial Inc.’s Unretirement Index.

Sixty-five percent of 1,451 surveyed American workers indicated they’ll wait at least a year to retire, up 11% from the end of 2008. Another 27% of these surveyed individuals think they will now need to work at least five more years because of the current economy.

Data from the U.S. division of the carrier showed that 55% of those surveyed indicated they would work at least part-time at the age of 67. Another 28% of the polled employees across all age groups are planning to work full-time beyond 67.

Seventy-seven percent of the surveyed individuals also said they were cutting back their spending, while another 64% have decided to tackle their debts.

When it comes to savings, the polled Americans were more interested in hoarding cash than putting their nest eggs back together: 44% said they were building an emergency fund, while 39% said they were rebuilding their retirement savings.

The overall Unretirement Index number also held at 44, where it was last December, indicating a continued pessimistic mood. The index is made up of smaller indices that look at how a pool of Americans feels about government and employee benefits, personal finances and the economy.