Profiling Plans for Retirement

TitleProfiling Plans for Retirement
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1996
AuthorsEkerdt, DJ, DeViney, S, Kosloski, K
JournalThe Journals of Gerontology: Series B
Volume51B
Issue3
Call Numberpubs_1996_Ekerdt_DJGSeriesB.txt
KeywordsAdult children, Demographics, Employment and Labor Force, End of life decisions, Health Conditions and Status, Methodology, Other, Retirement Planning and Satisfaction
Abstract

Actual decision making for retirement is largely inaccessible to investigation, yet research can focus on plans as a window into the preretirement process. This article proposes a construct that profiles five generic types of retirement plans, including plans to retire completely, change jobs, never retire, and uncertainty about retirement. The heuristic value of the construct lies in its recognition of the heterogeneity of retirement intentions. The five plan types were operationalized among workers aged 51-61 in the 1992 Health and Retirement Study. Convergent validity was demonstrated by comparisons to analogous survey questions. Construct validity was shown by predictable relationships between intentions and elements of workers' opportunity structure. The retirement-plans construct can serve as the foundation for a taxonomy of specific retirement plans (e.g., about timing, employment), to organize research on stability and change in retirement intentions, and characterize the path dependence of eventual retirement behavior.

URLhttps://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article/51B/3/S140/578592
DOI10.1093/geronb/51B.3.S140
Endnote Keywords

Age Factors/Cross Sectional Studies/Decision Making/Employment/Female/Human/Longitudinal Studies/Marital Status/Middle Age/Occupations/Questionnaires/Reproducibility of Results/Retirement/Statistics and Numerical Data

Endnote ID

4460

Citation Key6554