Retirement Timing: A Review and Recommendations for Future Research

Although there have been many reviews of the retirement literature in recent years, the issue of retirement timing has received less attention, neglecting some large and important issues. Further, a significant number of empirical articles about retirement timing have been published across multiple disciplines since these review articles were written. The purpose of our study is to review and integrate prior research regarding retirement timing. We define retirement timing as the age or relative point at which workers exit from their position or career path (e.g., early, on time, and later). We propose a model to serve as an organizing framework for understanding retirement timing. Our model includes antecedents and consequences that are each grouped in terms of individual, family, work, and sociocultural factors related to the timing of the retirement process. We identify and discuss key factors that serve to moderate the relation between retirement timing and consequences. Finally, we identify gaps in the current literature and provide recommendations for future research.