Retirement Timing Research Articles

Economic activity of Polish pensioners in the light of quantitative research

Research background: Despite the economic development, accompanied by various structural reforms (including pension reform of 1999), the effective retirement age in Poland is relatively low. Participants of the social insurance scheme tend to apply for the old-age pension as soon as possible (when they reach the statutory retirement age).
 Purpose of the article: The main aim of the paper is to evaluate the determinants of the economic activity of seniors in Poland taking the old-age pension form Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) as a regular or occasional work, in comparison to those who are not performing any paid activity.
 Methods: We use the data from the survey carried out in 2018 on the representative sample of Polish seniors aged 65+ for whose households the old-age pension from ZUS (1336 pensioners who retired between 1980?s up to 2018) is the main source of income. Multinominal logistic regression was performed to study how gender, retirement timing, education level and period of retirement as well as reasons for retirement influenced the likelihood to continue regular or occasional work.
 Findings & Value added: Multinominal logistic regression for women confirms that higher education increases chances for continuing regular work on the retirement comparing to those having secondary education. Retirement due to the reaching the pensionable age made women more likely to continue work on regular basis, while those who retired due to the bankruptcy of the employer were less likely to be employed during retirement. Retirement due to the preservation of pension privileges increased chances to continue work on the occasional basis among women and men. For men who reported employment - related factors as retirement drivers, the chances of performing occasional work were high and of highly statistical significant. This research delivers knowledge on drivers of regular or occasional paid activity combined with receiving old-age pension from social insurance system in Poland.

Time Discounting and Economic Decision-Making Among the Elderly

This paper evaluates the extent of heterogeneity in time discounting among elderly Americans, as well as its role in explaining older peoples’ key behaviors. We first show how older Americans evaluate simple (hypothetical) intertemporal choices in which payments now are compared with payments in the future. This adds to the literature on time horizon experiments by focusing on a nationally representative sample of persons age 70+. Using the indicators derived from this experiment, we show how differences in discounting patterns are associated with characteristics of particular importance in elderly populations, such as serious health and mental conditions. We then relate our discounting measure to key outcome variables including wealth, the timing of retirement, investments in health, and decisions about end of life care.Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

The effect of training, mentality and entrepreneurship on business success for employee pensions

This study aims to analyze (1) the direct effect of training on business success for prospective retirees; (2) the direct effect of mentality on business success for prospective retirees; (3) the direct effect of entrepreneurship on business success for prospective retirees; (4) the direct effect of training on entrepreneurship for retirement candidates PT. Bank BNI; (5) the direct effect of mentality on entrepreneurship for prospective retirees; and (6) the direct effect of training on the mentality of prospective retirees. The population in this study was retired PT. BNI banks in the Indonesian region that attended pre-retirement training at the time of retirement (aged 50-55 years) was 264 people. The sampling technique using Slovin formula obtained as many as 160 respondents. The results of the study indicate that (1) the training implemented has been actualized to retired PT. Bank BNI employees to realize the success of the business that will be undertaken. The training was in the form of pre-retirement given to every retired PT. Bank BNI as a provision for entrepreneurship in retirement; (2) retired employees are mentally prepared to pursue business in realizing business success. This mentality is needed as the stability of the soul and personality to run the business to be successful; (3) retired employees carry out entrepreneurship to realize business success. Entrepreneurial desire is the main motive for realizing the success of the business he is engaged in; (4) provide continuous training to retired employees to prepare them for entrepreneurship. The results of the pre-retirement training that were followed provided benefits for running entrepreneurship; (5) every retired employee is ready to carry out the entrepreneurial mentality he is practicing. Mental readiness to dare to make entrepreneurial decisions in retirement; and (6) retired employees who attend training mentally are ready to face the retirement period with entrepreneurship. Training before retirement has led to the realization of a persistent mentality in entrepreneurship.

Social security and retirement timing: evidence from a national sample of teachers

AbstractThis study documents an important role for Social Security income in workers’ retirement timing. About 40% of public school teachers are not covered by Social Security. This provides an opportunity to analyze the causal impact of Social Security on retirement timing by comparing covered and non-covered teachers. Using individual-level data from the American Community Survey, we find robust evidence of higher rates of retirement among covered teachers at Social Security eligibility ages. This pattern is confirmed using an alternative regression model of participation in the teacher labor force. These estimates suggest that, should the federal government mandate full inclusion in Social Security for all public sector workers, the retirement timing patterns of newly covered teachers and other public sector workers would likely change.

Optimal effort in the principal-agent problem with time-inconsistent preferences

This paper incorporates an agent’s time-inconsistent preferences into the Sannikov (2008) contract model to explore the effects of an agent’s preferences on his own behaviors: the incentive effort choice, the optimal retirement time and the consumption flow during his whole career life. We find the agent’s time inconsistency makes it difficult for him to be motivated and makes him need more compensation. An agent’s time-inconsistency erodes both the principal and his own income. The time-inconsistent agent will choose a lower incentive effort level, retire at an earlier time and have a lower consumption flow compared with his time-consistent peer. The time-inconsistent preference exactly influences the agents behavior and makes the agency problem more serious. Therefore, the firm has to cost more to stimulate such a time-inconsistent agent, which will damage the firms profits, as well as the efficiency.

Relational Narratives and Moorings in International Mobility and Migration at an Advanced Age

Abstract This article focuses on personal stories of international mobility and migration as told close to the age of retirement. Talking about past international mobility and migration, people tend to tell stories that are relational; choices and actions are often explained in relation to other people (Mason 2004). I map the relational nature of the mobility life stories in the beginning and at the end of the stories and focus on moorings described close to the time of retirement. Moorings reflect the value that individuals place on locations, and which might influence their migration decisions (Barcus and Brunn 2010). Moorings anchor a person to a specific place through a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as relatives, property, dwelling, employment, and networks of connections. At the time of retirement, moorings influence decisions concerning not only a place of retirement but also the kin-work and care that is necessary in maintaining the emotional and material well-being of families (see Conway 2007; Moon 1995). My analysis shows that mobility life stories told at an advanced age tend to be less relational at their beginning than at the point when the mobility life story is told. In a similar manner, moorings, which include other people and things such as housing or health-care availability, may change depending on the stage of life. Children, grandchildren, and sometimes parents are given great importance at an advanced age, whereas studies, career, and adventures are emphasized during youth.

Uniformity and difference of ageing

The author proposes that ageing and old age can be seen as a universal process but also as something that can be differentiated both by time and place. In the central part of the article, the author contends that one way of approaching the topic, particularly if it is addressed as part of the United States polity, is through the lens of American Studies and, more specifically, through the work of R.W.B. Lewis and his idea of the American Adam. It is precisely the self-image of the United States as a country of youth that elides the significance of ageing from the disciplinary agenda. In addition, the author contends that the American socio-economic order marginalizes ageing as incompatible with its dynamics. In the onclusion, the author up dates the issue and shows how today’s pension schemes affect what as precisely designated as a time of retirement.

Social Security Benefit Valuation, Risk, and Optimal Retirement

We develop techniques to estimate the present day value of the future social security benefits of a retiree based upon their chosen date of retirement, the term structure of interest rates, and life expectancy forecasts. These valuation methods are then used to determine the optimal retirement time of a beneficiary given a specific wage history and health profile in the sense of maximizing the present day value of future cashflows. We then examine how a number of risk factors including interest rates, disease diagnosis, and population life table risks impact the current value of future payments. Specifically, we utilize principal component analysis in order to assess interest rate and population life expectancy variation risks. We then examine how such risks range over distinct income and demographic groups and finally summarize future research directions.

The Impact of Life Course Employment and Domestic Duties on the Well-Being of Retired Women and the Social Protection Systems That Frame This.

Objectives: The article addresses whether specific combinations of employment and domestic duties over the life course are associated with variations in women's health at the time of retirement. It also explores the differences of this relationship in four European welfare states. Method: Women from three waves of SHARE (Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe) are grouped using sequence analysis. Using logistic regression models, group differences in later life depression and self-reported health are tested. Predicted probabilities are applied to analyze welfares' differences. Results: The findings confirm that a combination of employment and domestic duties across the life course has a positive association with later life health. Being outside the labor market is detrimental for women's health. Well-being across the life course is framed by the welfare context in which women live. Discussion: We suggest that further research is needed to explore the mechanisms linking work and care trajectories to poor health and enable appropriate interventions.

Why are US men retiring later?

AbstractOver the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped and the average retirement age has increased. At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased. In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend toward later claiming. Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously. This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931–1941) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The predicted behavior is then compared with the actual retirements of the Early Boomer cohort (1948–1953) to see how much of the later cohort's delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes. The Early Boomer cohort was less likely to be fully retired than the HRS cohort at both age 62 (36.7% vs. 44.0%) and age 64 (49.5% vs. 53.9%). The model suggests that the shift from DB toward DC plans was the biggest contributor to these declines, followed by better health. Social Security rules and improvements in mortality played smaller roles.

ProMe: A Mentoring Platform for Older Adults Using Machine Learning Techniques for Supporting the “Live and Learn” Concept

It is well known what an important role employment plays in our lives and how it influences our everyday life. With the help of employment, all of us as individuals manage to create our personal and social net that not only gives meaning and financial security but also heavily affects our social status, contributes to self-esteem, and plays a vital role on the way our social relationships at work and (not only) are formed. Being work active even after the retirement time has been found to have mostly useful and positive effects. Age groups that are in the after retirement age group (65 and more) and keep working can significantly improve their mental health since they feel that there are still things to offer to others. ProMe aims to provide a unique framework for the people being in this transitional phase of their life, from work to retirement, thus playing a vital role in supporting their mental health and well-being. ProMe provides a platform for the younger generation to benefit from the accumulated professional and formal knowledge and experience of the older. In this way, ProMe supports professional intergenerational cooperation and mentoring, bringing together older adults with younger generations.

Will the Real Physician Retirees Please Stand Up?

Policy makers and health workforce planners rely on counts of practice licences as a measure of the size of the active physician workforce. We use a population-based approach to correlate estimates of retirement from clinical care based on these data with those produced using physician payment data. We find that licensure data generates per-capita estimates of physician supply in British Columbia that are substantially higher than activity-based estimates. Licensure data are unlikely to produce reliable estimates of the timing and extent of physician retirement and therefore should not be used as the primary basis for estimating current or future physician supply.

The impact of a partial borrowing limit on financial decisions

We consider a consumption, investment, life insurance, and retirement decision problem in which an economic agent is allowed to borrow against only a part of future income. The closed-form solution is attained by applying a dual approach that directly imposes the conditions for the borrowing limit on a dual value function. We provide analytic comparative statics for optimal strategies with rigorous proofs. It is confirmed that a more stringent borrowing limit leads to less consumption and less life insurance purchase. However, even with a tighter borrowing limit, an agent with weak incentive to retire can invest more when the wealth level is high enough. We also show that a more stringent borrowing limit can delay or hasten the optimal retirement timing depending on the agent's current wealth level.

Pension Reform Options in Hong Kong

This article argues for the establishment of a defined benefit and partially funded universal pension system. The characteristics of this system represent a publicly managed mandatory contributory pension plan and the coverage of its benefits for all Hong Kong elderly aged above 65. By applying a mathematical model which links up the periodic savings during people’s working life, level of interest rates, average length of time in retirement, and the amount of retirement benefit payments, we calculated the possible scenarios for Hong Kong to reform its pension system. Research results suggest that the proposed system will be financially viable and sustainable provided both the government and its citizens are willing to pay for it.

Health Effects of Late-Career Unemployment.

Objective: Job loss has a demonstrated negative impact on physical and mental health. Involuntary retirement has also been linked to poorer physical and mental health outcomes. This study examined whether late-career unemployment is related to involuntary retirement and health declines postretirement. Method: Analysis was conducted using the 2000-2012 U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) survey data with unemployment months regressed with demographic and baseline health measures on physical and mental health. Results: Individuals with late-career unemployment reported more involuntary retirement timing (47.0%) compared with those reporting no unemployment (27.9%). Late-career unemployment had no significant effect on self-reported physical health (β = .003, p = .84), but was significantly associated with lower levels of mental health (β = .039; p < .01). Conclusion: Self-reports of late-career unemployment are not associated with physical health in retirement, but unemployment is associated with involuntary retirement timing and mental health declines in retirement. Unemployment late in the working career should be addressed as a public mental health concern.

Domains and determinants of retirement timing: A systematic review of longitudinal studies

BackgroundTo date, determinants of retirement timing have been studied separately within various disciplines, such as occupational health and economics. This narrative literature review explores the determinants of retirement timing in countries, and relevant domains among older workers from both an economic and occupational health perspective.MethodsA literature search was conducted using 11 databases. Longitudinal studies on determinants of retirement timing were included. Study inclusion criteria were as follows: full-text article written in English or Dutch, conducted in humans, main outcome was time until retirement (i.e. retirement date or retirement age), and longitudinal design. Next, the included articles were screened for hypotheses on retirement timing and these articles with hypotheses were subjected to a quality assessment. Determinants for retirement timing were classified into multiple domains by three researchers.ResultsThe literature search identified 20 articles. The determinants of retirement timing were classified into eight domains: demographic factors, health factors, social factors, social participation, work characteristics, financial factors, retirement preferences, and macro effects. In total, we identified 49 determinants, ranging from one (social, and retirement preferences) to 21 determinants (work characteristics) per domain.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that there is a wide range of determinants that influence retirement timing in modern industrialized countries and that these determinants differ between countries. We recommend that researchers include determinants from various domains when studying retirement timing, while taking into account a country’s context.

Potential Development of Retirement Village in Malaysia

As life styles keep changing, people are now paying more attention towards their retirement life. The decision of where to live during their retirement life is related to many factors, such as financial resources, retirement timing and health status. Retirement village is a new concept in Malaysia as compared to the developed countries and there is still lack of public knowledge and awareness towards retirement village. In Malaysia, developers have cited lack of expertise, unfamiliarity with retirement village concept and high cost as constraints faced to build and manage retirement village. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to study an awareness of the public towards retirement village concept in Malaysia. Through a survey conducted in Ipoh, the majority of the respondents prefer to stay at their own house after retirement rather than staying at retirement village. Moreover, respondents also indicated a medium level of acceptance towards potential development of retirement village concept in Malaysia, and the provision of 24 hours security and better healthcare were identified as the prominent services to be provided for the homes. It is hoped that the findings from this study would be useful to create awareness to the relevant stakeholders comprising local governments, developer and property investors for the purpose of retirement village development in the future.

Life‐Cycle Expenditure and Retirees’ Cost of Living

AbstractThe aim of this paper is twofold. First, we document the expenditure life‐cycle profile in the United Kingdom and show how differences in the consumption bundle of retirees and workers translate into different inflation experiences. Albeit different in given years, the inflation experienced by the two groups is not significantly different over a long time period. We also show how the distribution of household inflation evolved over time, with particular emphasis on the period around the latest financial crisis. Second, we estimate an Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) demand system and compute the change in the cost of living and the substitution effect for both retirees and workers for the period 1990–2014. Finally, we show how pension income would evolve during that period under three alternative indexation measures for different cohorts of retirees. The indexation measure that results in the highest pension income depends on the time of retirement.

Socio-economic differences in retirement timing and participation in post-retirement employment in a context of a flexible pension age

AbstractSocio-economic circumstances influence later-life employment participation, which may take different forms as retirement processes are complex. We aimed to explore the diverse effects of various socio-economic sub-domains on pre- and post-retirement employment. We used Finnish register data to examine socio-economic predictors of time to retirement (i.e. receiving the statutory pension) using Cox regression analysis and on time spent in post-retirement employment using repeated negative binomial regression analysis over a follow-up between the ages of 63 and 68, i.e. the flexible pension age range. An average wage earner still employed at age 62 spent 13.5 months in pre-retirement employment (this corresponds to time to retirement) and 4.8 months in post-retirement employment. Those with tertiary education retired later, but the educational differences in the total time spent in employment were small when post-retirement employment was also considered. There was little variation in the timing of retirement by household income, but those in the highest quintile spent the longest time in post-retirement employment. Upper non-manual employees, home renters and those with high household debt retired later, and those with high household debt also spent a longer time in post-retirement employment. In a national flexible pension age system, high occupational class and household income thus appear to encourage either later retirement or participation in post-retirement employment. However, economic constraints also appear to necessitate continued employment.

Interaction of nanoparticles with biological systems.

I feel very much honored that I was invited to contribute to a special issue for you, Heiri, in the prestigious Journal Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces. Moreover, it is with great pleasure that I add a few pages on the topic I was involved with during my active research time, i.e. on the interaction of nanoparticles with biological systems, for this special issue. The research topic continued somehow into the time of my retirement, but with a broader view of nanoparticles, with my engagement in the National Research Program 64 on "Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials" of the Swiss National Science Foundation. It was wonderful having you as a world expert on physical-chemical aspects of nanomaterials (powders) in the Steering Committee. Your competence in this field of research work as well as your engagement have always been highly appreciated.