Retirement Adjustment Research Articles

Retirement experience, retirement satisfaction and life satisfaction of baby boomers

PurposeThe practice of mandatory retirement age implies that some retirees may be forced to retire or are compelled to continue working. Retirement would then be determined by age and not by their personal choices. Against this backdrop, this study aims to understand the associations retirement transition types (voluntary or involuntary retirement) with retirement satisfaction and life satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThis mixed research study seeks to understand how the retirement transition type in the form of voluntary or involuntary retirement is associated with retirement satisfaction and life satisfaction. In this study, 103 Singapore baby boomer retirees were interviewed and a questionnaire was administered.FindingsResults showed that voluntary retirement and high social–emotional resources had significant positive associations with retirement satisfaction, and that financial resources and retirement satisfaction had significant associations with life satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsBased on this study’s findings, a synthesized conceptual model was designed to illustrate the different roles and associations of resources with retirement satisfaction and life satisfaction. A retirement trajectory model was also created to cater for policy design at various stages of the retirement experience.Practical implicationsThe retirement experience is multi-dimensional. It is highly relevant to almost every older adult. The relevance of this topic also meant that the findings in this study carry a potentially higher impact. Using the life span and multi-level perspectives to examine retirement, the findings in this study invite several timely human resources (HR) and national policy reviews. This paper proposed HR policy practices at three main points – late-career, retirement and bridge employment.Originality/valueA unique feature of this study was to differentiate and compare “retirement satisfaction” with “life satisfaction”, and the differentiation of “retirement transition”, “retirement adjustment” and the “retirement trajectory”. The differentiation of these concepts can better shape policies targeted at different phases of the retirement experience. In addition, the resource-based dynamic perspective was used to identify and understand the types of resources that have significant associations with retirement and life satisfaction. For example, social–emotional resources were found to be significantly associated with retirement satisfaction, and financial resources were found to be significantly associated with life satisfaction.

Peculiarity of Retirement Adjustment: A Study of Selected Retired Military Officers in Nigeria

Retirement is a normal and ubiquitous phenomenon in the world of work. Every worker must retire owing to the fact that retirement is inevitable and no individual can work for eternity due to senescence. However, retirement comes with adjustment and adaptation in relation to different professions and skills or vocations. This study adopted a survey research method; using accidental and snowballing sampling technique with key informant interview (KII) and focus group discussion (FGD) as research instruments. The analysis was done using a qualitative method of content analysis to present the peculiarity of retirement adjustment among selected retired military officers in Nigeria. From the analysis, the adjustment is divided into two namely: social and economy retirement. The social adjustment includes changes in lifestyle in general. It includes but is not limited to changes in the living environment that warrants adapting to the lack of appropriate space to exercise and other recreational facilities such as visit to Officers’ Mess and complying with community security instructions amongst others. Economy retirement adjustment is characterised by less income, gratuity (less than salary) and increased spending owing to the need to budget for payment of bills such as security, electricity, transportation and even accommodation in some instances. Meanwhile, officers become more frugal and thus, have to reduce financial commitment to family and friends resulting from less income. Financial adjustment has been found to affect social adjustment as finance is a major factor that determines social involvement, especially in relation to financial commitment to family and friends. Recommendations such as the need for retirement education and training of officers in choiced occupation before and after retirement becomes imperative among others.

A meta-analysis of retirement adjustment predictors

While most people experience a positive transition to retirement, as many as one third of the population find the transition challenging. Previous research has identified a number of factors that predict adjustment outcomes – with finances, physical health, marital relationship, wider social participation, and exit conditions identified as being particularly key. This study aimed to examine their relative contribution to retirement adjustment by assessing the magnitude of the associations between each key predictor category and retirement adjustment outcomes, as well as to examine potential important moderating factors. A three-level meta-analysis (based on 915 effect sizes, k = 139, N = 78,632) revealed that social participation had the strongest positive association with adjustment (r = .23), followed by physical health (r = .22), marital relationship (r = .18), finances (r = .17) and exit conditions (r = .15), respectively. Additional analyses revealed substantial variation within each category (with effect sizes ranging from r = −.03 to r = .43), suggesting that there is value in future research and theory to recognise substantive theoretical and empirical differences in defining retirement predictors. Less physical health symptoms and ease of maintaining social relationships were identified as the most important subfactors for successful adjustment. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings in facilitating retirement adjustment.

Female Baby Boomer’s Retirement Adjustment Process: Return to a life of self-care

본 연구는 여성 베이비부머의 은퇴 적응 과정을 탐색하기 위하여 베이비붐 세대 여성 은퇴자 12 명을 대상으로 면담 자료를 수집하고 근거이론 방법으로 자료를 분석하였다. 분석 결과 여성 베이비부머의 은퇴 적응의 중심 현상은 ‘양가적 자아상’, 은퇴 적응 결과는 양가적 자아상을 통합해가는 ‘노화지침의 개별화’이다. 은퇴 적응 현상에 대처해 가는 은퇴 적응 과정은 ‘자기 배려의삶으로 돌아 가기’의 세 단계로 구성되었다. 첫 번째 단계는 물리적, 관계적 측면의 노후 안전기반 재구축이었다. 두 번째 단계는 자기계발과 자기관리에 전념하는 자기 돌봄의 생활방식이었다. 세 번째 단계는 도리적 돌봄 역할과 적극적 돌봄 역할을 행하는 관계방식이었다. ‘자기 배려의 삶으로 돌아가기’는 노후 삶의 안전 기반과 의존하지 않는 독립성을 토대로 내부적으로는 자기 돌봄 생활방식을, 외부적으로는 타인 돌봄의 관계방식을 지향하는 나이 듦의 여정이었다. 세단계의 은퇴 적응 과정을 관통하는 핵심 범주로 도출된 ‘돌봄과 독립’은 은퇴 적응 과정에서 과거와 현재, 미래의 자아상을 통합해가는 중심 개념을 의미한다. 본 연구 결과의 시사점에 대하여논의하고 추후 연구를 위한 제언을 기술하였다. 본 연구는 ‘독립과 돌봄’의 핵심범주를 중심으로여성 베이비부머의 은퇴 적응에 관한 사회심리 현상의 주제와 요소를 설명하는 이론적 틀을 제시하였고, 여성 은퇴자의 상담 및 교육 프로그램 개발에 관한 새로운 시사점을 제공하였다는데의의가 있다.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONAL FUNCTIONING, LOCUS OF CONTROL AND RETIREMENT ADJUSTMENT OF RETIRED TEACHERS IN OSUN STATE

The survey investigated the level of retirement adjustment of teacher-retirees in Osun State, Nigeria, explored the individual and combined relationship of personal functioning and locus of control on retirement adjustment. The sample n = 205 was drawn through a multistage sampling method. A research question and three hypotheses guided the study. Three standardised scales were adopted and used for data collection. Results showed that 52.7% of the participants were moderately adjusted to retirement, while 47.3% reported high retirement adjustment. Results further showed a positive and significant relationship between personal functioning and retirement adjustment (r = .159 p < 0.05), and a positive and significant relationship between locus of control and retirement adjustment (r = .340, p < 0.05). Final results showed the combined effect of personal functioning and locus of control on retirement adjustment to be significant (R = .341; R2 = .116. > 0.05). It is recommended that during pre-retirement and post-retirement counselling, retirement counsellors should emphasise the significant role of dispositional traits such as personal functioning and locus of control in the attainment of retirement adjustment, among other recommendations.

Retirement Adjustment in Germany From 1996 to 2014

Abstract The context of retirement has changed over the last decades, but there is little knowledge on whether the quality of retirement adjustment has changed as well. Changes in retirement regulations and historical differences in resources may affect the quality of adjustment and increase inequalities between different socioeconomic groups. In the present study, we investigated historical differences in retirement adjustment by comparing cross-sectional samples of retirees from 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014, based on the population-based German Ageing Survey. Adjustment was measured with three different indicators (perceived change in life after retirement, retirement satisfaction, adjustment difficulties). Retirement satisfaction was higher in later samples, but for the other two outcomes, there was no evidence for systematic increases or decreases in levels of retirement adjustment with historical time over the studied period. White-collar workers reported better adjustment than blue-collar workers did, and for two of three outcomes, this effect was stable over time. The white-collar workers’ advantage concerning retirement satisfaction, however, increased. We conclude that in Germany, at least for those who retire within the usual time window, adjustment quality has not changed systematically over the examined 18-year period. We only found mixed evidence for a growing social inequality in the retirement adjustment. However, as individual agency in choosing one’s retirement timing and pathway is increasingly restricted, social inequalities in well-being before retirement may increase.

Spoken Stories: A Narrative Inquiry on the Public School Teachers’ Early Retirement Decision

The study conducted assesses the perception of the public school teachers on early retirement decision. This study focused on three aspects of retirement which are the respondents concept of retirable age, their fears upon retirement and the psychological impacts early retirement decision has upon their well-being particularly in family relations, social relations and economic status. A narrative inquiry paradigm is used in this study. The study revealed that employees concept of retirable age is 55 years old. The most feared after retirement is the reduction in the cost of living allowance. The family and the respondents’ relationship with them contribute to the success in the retirement adjustment and the ability of the respondents to maintain good relationship with former co-workers creates a satisfactory retirement life.

When the final whistle blows: Social identity pathways support mental health and life satisfaction after retirement from competitive sport

For many athletes, retirement from higher levels of competitive sport poses significant challenges. Research has shown that athletic identity is a key predictor of adjustment trajectories, but the mechanisms through which this affects outcomes are less clear. Added to this, there has been limited research on the role that wider social identities, and the resources they enable, play in adjustment. Addressing both these issues, we examined theoretically derived social identity pathways to retirement adjustment in athletes who had played sport at higher competitive levels and two potential mechanisms, or psychological resources, through which adjustment might be enabled. This was examined in two samples: retired athletes from countries in Western (n = 215) and Eastern (n = 183) regions. Loss of athletic identity, social group memberships (multiple, maintained and new), psychological resources (perceived meaning in life and control), and adjustment (life satisfaction, depression, and perceived physical health) were assessed. In both samples, the loss of athletic identity undermined adjustment by reducing meaning in life and perceived control. Path analysis showed that both maintained and gained social group memberships counteracted the negative effects of athletic identity loss on adjustment. Evidence that these pathways enabled access to psychological resources was found primarily in Chinese athletes, with maintained groups influencing personal control and new groups influencing meaning in life. These findings highlight the importance of social identity processes to retirement from higher levels of competitive sport and the mechanisms through which they can either support or undermine adjustment.

PENGARUH DUKUNGAN SOSIAL TERHADAP PENYESUAIAN DIRI MASA PENSIUN DESA FODO KECAMATAN GUNUNG SITOLI SELATAN KOTA GUNUNG SITOLI

Entering retirement, the individual will experience an important change in the development of his life, which is marked by social changes. Changes caused by this retirement period require adjustment. Someone who is facing retirement needs social support in facing retirement. This quantitative study aims to determine the effect of social support on retirement adjustment in Fodo Village, South Gunungsitoli District, Gunungsitoli City with 34 samples taken in this study. Based on the results of data analysis, it can be concluded that there is a significant effect between social support on self-adjustment with a correlation coefficient (R) of 54.3% which means that there is a fairly close relationship between social support and retirement adjustment and the coefficient of determination (R square) indicates that adjustment self-retirement is influenced by social support by 29.5%.

A Healthy Retirement Program for Thai government teachers: a quasi-experimental and comparison groups study

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the Healthy Retirement Program's effectiveness toward skills improvement and evaluate changes in subjective health.Design/methodology/approachA quasi-experimental, pre and posttest of the comparison groups was conducted. Teachers who were going to retire within one year were recruited into the experimental (n = 47) and the comparison groups (n = 43). Questionnaires were administered at baseline, posttest and at the 6-months follow-up. An independent t-test and Mann–Whitney U test were applied to determine the differences in outcomes between groups.FindingsThe results revealed different effects regarding teachers' health status. In those who had no chronic disease, the experimental group had higher skills to understand health information at posttest and at follow-up (p = 0.036, 0.028). Skills to apply health information was also greater at follow-up (p = 0.042). Among those suffering from a chronic disease, skills to access and apply health information were significantly higher in the experimental group than that of the comparison at follow-up (p = 0.011, 0.046). Greater perceived health of the experimental group was also indicated (p = 0.032).Originality/valueWhile the health conditions of teachers at the preretirement period are inconsistent, healthy lifestyle management after retirement is a crucial skill for retirement adjustment. Supporting teachers to be health literate should be included in the retirement planning program which emphasizes preretiree's ability to understand and take control of their health.

Perspectives on Aging-Related Preparation.

When older adults face age-related life challenges, anticipating what to expect and how to access potential coping strategies can both prevent and provide the possibility of easier recovery from crises. Aging-Related Preparation (ARP) is defined as the continuum of thoughts and activities about how to age well, often beginning with the awareness of age-related changes, or the anticipation of retirement, and concluding with specifying end-of-life wishes. In the current paper, we introduce the concept of ARP and related formulations regarding plans for aging well, describe both predictors and outcomes of ARP for several the domains of ARP, and consider the elements of ARP within the context of existing social policy. We conclude that ARP is determined by a variety of influences both intrinsic to the older person (e.g., personality, cognitive ability, beliefs about planning, problem-solving skills), linked to social class and education, as well as dependent on family structures, access to and knowledge of options, services, and local community resources, and social policy. We further provide evidence that ARP has positive effects in the domain of pre-retirement planning (for retirement adjustment), of preparation for future care (for emotional well-being), and of ACP (for a good death). However, other domains of ARP, including planning for leisure, housing, and social planning are under-researched. Finally, we discuss policy implications of the existing research.

Effectiveness of Retirement Adjustment Scale Among Retired Teachers from Southwestern Nigeria

Retirement is seen as partial or complete disengagement from work activities with which individuals have been identified, due to personal or organizational factors, whether or not retirement benefits would accompany it. Being a significant phase of transition into human life, the phase offers unique opportunities for researchers to investigate adaptation and coping over the period, because it is reputed for considerable daily life changes that impacts retirees’ psychological health. The study explored the practical workability of measuring retirement adjustment intended for Retirement Adjustment Scale (RAS) among teachers who retired from primary and secondary schools in Ekiti and Osun States of the Southwestern Nigeria. It also investigated the effectiveness or otherwise of RAS among the respondents based on their demographics such as gender, educational attainment and institution of service before transition into retirement. The research design adopted was survey. The population comprised all retired teachers from primary and secondary schools in Ekiti and Osun States of Southwestern Nigeria. The sample size (n = 650) was selected through a multi-stage sampling, 650 copies of questionnaire were administered. The results revealed that the level of effectiveness of RAS in measuring the retirement adjustment of retiree was moderately high. There was no statistically significant effect on retirees’ sex (χ2 = 1.376, p > 0.05) and type of family (χ2 = 2.046, p > 0.05) whereas there was a significant effect on retirees’ educational attainment (χ2 = 22.823, p 0.05). It could be concluded that RAS is effective in measuring the retirement adjustment of teacher-retirees from both primary and secondary schools on the most important variables of sex while variation may exist in the matter of their educational attainment and institution of service prior to retirement.

Core Self-Evaluations Affecting Retirement-Related Outcomes.

This study addressed a gap in the literature by examining the role of core self-evaluations as a predictor of retirement preparation (i.e., attitudes, expectations, and goals), compared to other important aspects such as demographic, financial, health, and work-related variables. Based on the resource-based dynamic model for retirement adjustment and the core self-evaluations theory, the present study showed that core self-evaluations significantly and positively affected the social component of retirement adjustment (H1), the retirement expectations of new beginning (H2), the retirement expectations of continuity (H3), and retirement goals (H4). Additionally, core-self evaluations negatively affected the retirement expectations of imposed disruption (H5). All the analyses were controlled for age, gender, perceived health, financial situation, job centrality, and expected retirement age. In conclusion, core self-evaluations are valuable and supportive to workers across the work lifespan, and for dealing with the retirement preparation.

Historical Differences in Retirement Adjustment in Germany

The nature of retirement has been constantly changing over the last decades. Retirement transitions of later-born cohorts differ from those of earlier-born cohorts in terms of sociocultural context and timing. In addition, today’s retirees differ from those who retired earlier in historical time, for example with respect to gender composition, social resources and health status. Gerontological research has rarely addressed the question whether such developments translate into historical differences in retirement adjustment quality. In the current study, we investigated historical differences in perceived retirement adjustment. We distinguished developments for blue-collar and white-collar workers to detect potentially increasing social inequalities. Our pre-registered analyses were based on data from four waves of the German Ageing Survey. The sample included n = 990 participants interviewed either 1996, 2002, 2008 or 2014, who retired in a five-year period before the respective interview (1991-1996, 1997-2002, 2003-2008 and 2009-2014, respectively). Retirement adjustment was measured with three self-report items. Our preliminary results, based on multi-group structural equation modeling, do not provide evidence for a linear improvement or decline of retirement adjustment quality over historical time. White-collar worker reported better adjustment, but this effect was constant over historical time. Our results do not support ideas of fundamental historical differences or growing social inequalities in the individual experience of retirement.

“I am still a teacher”: The place of the teaching career in the process of retirement adjustment

ABSTRACT The research examined the adjustment process to retirement among teachers during the initial stages of retirement. The focus on the specific sector of teachers is drawn from a theoretical foundation which indicates a connection between the type of work and the process of adjusting to retirement. The aim of the study was to expose the characteristics of a career in pedagogy that articulate teachers’ adaptation to retirement life. Based on semi-structured interviews with 30 teachers who have been retired for two to six years, it was found that the profession of teaching is reflected in the teachers’ experiences of adjusting to retirement at the psychological-personality level and the operational-practical aspect. Professional identity transfers with the teachers into retirement life. Personality traits, tendencies and skills acquired and developed during 30 years of teaching usher the teacher into the life of retirement. Moreover, the retired teacher’s daily activities are influenced by his/her teaching career.

Retirement lifestyle conceptualization and well-being in recent retirees

ABSTRACT The retirement literature contains four distinct conceptualizations of retirement lifestyle. Retirement can be seen as an opportunity to make a new start, the continuation of a pre-retirement lifestyle, an unwelcome imposed disruption, and a transition to old age. This research examines the conceptualizations of retirement lifestyle and how they relate to retirement adjustment and well-being in recent retirees (N = 173). A factor analysis confirmed the existence of four factors identifying four retirement conceptualizations. Although previous studies have presented retirement conceptualizations as mutually incompatible, significant relationships were found between them in this research, indicating that recent retirees can synchronously conceptualize seemingly distinct lifestyles. The cluster analysis identified three types of retirees in the sample. These types were labeled to reflect the prevailing retirement lifestyle concepts. The first type of retiree (N = 90) is “New beginning and continuation,” the second (N = 44) is “Imposed disruption without hope,” and the third is (N = 39) “Accepted disruption and ending.” The analysis of variance revealed the three types differ significantly in the level of satisfaction in retirement, subjective happiness, and life meaningfulness – with the highest level being found in the first retiree type and the lowest level in the second retiree type. The findings suggest that conceptualizations of retirement lifestyle change over time and affect psychological well-being in the recent retiree cohort. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are outlined.

How to Successfully Adjust to Retirement? Examining the Role of Pre-Retirement Resources

Successfully adjusting to retirement represents a major challenge for many older workers. Although studies emphasize that successfully adjusting to new life circumstances in retirement may depend on the availability and fluctuation of specific resources, little is known about the impact of multiple pre-retirement resources availability and change on two distinctive outcomes: the process of successfully adjusting to retirement and, subsequently, the outcomes of such process in terms of post-retirement well-being. The current study draws from retirement adjustment resource-based dynamic theory to argue that multiple pre-retirement resources availability and change facilitate the process through which retirees get used to their new retirement life (retirement adjustment process), and, subsequently, their post-retirement well-being levels and change (retirement adjustment quality). Using archival data from 667 Chinese older workers transitioning into retirement collected with prospective longitudinal research design, we found evidence for positive impacts of multiple types of pre-retirement resources and their latent changes (i.e., financial well-being, family support, and proactive personality) on retirement adjustment process, which was in turn positively associated with post-retirement life satisfaction and its change. Further mediation tests revealed that the indirect effects through retirement adjustment process were statistically significant. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

A Conceptual Model of Small Business Owners’ Unique Retirement Decisions: Multilevel Antecedents and Retirement Adjustment Consequences

AbstractThe research on small business owners’ (SBOs’) retirement process has been very limited in the literature. In this commentary, we first outline SBOs’ 4 specific retirement decision options, including family succession, retire from management while maintaining ownership, independent sale, and liquidation. We then examine their unique multilevel antecedents that may shape SBOs’ retirement decisions at the individual (e.g., psychological ownership), relational (e.g., business-related family conflict and potential successor), and business (e.g., presence of business partners and business financial value) levels. Next, we explain how SBOs’ specific retirement decisions may shape their retirement adjustment in terms of both psychological and financial well-being. The overall purpose of this article is to provide a conceptual model of SBOs’ unique retirement decisions to support the understanding of SBO’s retirement process and help the literature move forward on this topic.

Spatial Effects Over Time-Framed Happiness

The article investigates average marginal effects of intra-urban, urban-remote and perceived spatial differences over time-framed happiness. The study is based on a self-report social survey conducted in Adana which includes three different time frames for happiness, namely at present (short-term), in the last week and in the last 4 weeks (global). Over which, the effects of objective, subjective and social spatial variables through socio-economic and social capital variables are measured using logistic regression models. Based on cognitive neuroscience research findings, the expectations are that perceived aspects of life are more likely related to short-term happiness and objective aspects of life are more likely related to global happiness. The analyses reveal that urban-remote difference is more likely related to higher global happiness; vehicle dependent-others difference is more likely related to higher happiness; perceived spatial factors are more likely related to short-term happiness; lower relative income and higher neighborhood inequality are more likely to decrease global happiness; the unemployed and retired urban residents are more likely to feel less happy and related to global happiness; personal characteristics and socio-economic factors are more likely related to one-week happiness. The implications suggest that policies should be towards the city retirees and the unemployeds who feel less happy, and intensive public transportation areas and their residents who are the most unhappy and more disturbed by air pollution. For policy implementation, we recommend that the authorities discuss the public transport, distance to services, air pollution and unemployment issues, and adopt the retirement adjustment law to eliminate the grievances in the pensions of the retirees.

Leisure, international retirement migration, and retirement adjustment: insights from the best exotic marigold hotel movies

ABSTRACT International retirement migration (IRM) is a growing phenomenon linked to increased longevity, early retirement, and improved financial status. Encompassing both travel and leisure experiences, IRM is a topic relevant to both tourism and leisure studies. By analysing the fictional movie series The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) and The Second Best Marigold Hotel (2015) from psychological, gerontological, and sociological theoretical perspectives, this paper examines motivation, goal setting, continuity and change, and identity development in IRM experiences within tourism and leisure contexts. This paper (a) identified motivations for IRM as finance, romantic relationships, social relations, self-esteem, self-fulfilment, and social norms; (b) in turn, time perception and attitude influence IRM emigrants’ priority and emotional fulfilment; (c) innovation extricates IRM emigrants from role loss and facilitates role change; and (d) IRM emigrants experience various identity development processes. A conceptual framework for IRM is proposed that purports to explain the IRM experience process and indicates that such an understanding of IRM should incorporate psychological, gerontological, and sociological perspectives.