%0 Journal Article %J Innovation in Aging %D 2021 %T The Role of Occupational Switching on Retirement of American Midlife Workers %A Oh, Yun taek %K midlife health %K Occupational choice %K Occupational employment %K Retirement %K Retirement and Labor Force %K Work %X An increasing number of midlife Americans are financially unprepared for retirement. This is a problem because of the increasing life expectancy that prolongs the need for financial resources. One way to resolve this problem is to postpone full retirement by having bridge jobs that provide more time to work and accumulate retirement savings. While having a bridge job means numerous labor market behavior such as working for different employers and reducing work hours and intensity, there is a limited number of studies focused specifically on how switching occupations can contribute to retirement decisions with a longer time frame. This study investigated the association between occupational switching and retirement patterns of American midlife workers aged between 50 to 59 years using the Health and Retirement Study longitudinal data from 2004 to 2016, Occupational Information Network data, and American Community Survey from 2003 to 2016. The changes in occupational demandingness before and after switching occupations were reflected by using mover design event study regression with fixed effects. In general, occupational switching is associated with later retirement until two to three years after switching occupations for both genders, yet this association varies by the directions of the change in occupational demandingness. %B Innovation in Aging %V 5 %P 984-985 %8 12 %G eng %U https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igab046.3539 %R 10.1093/geroni/igab046.3539 %0 Journal Article %J Innovation in Aging %D 2020 %T Longitudinal Daily Living Limitations and Cognitive Status: Results from the 1998-2016 Health and Retirement Study %A Wu, Benson %A Toseef, Mohammad Usama %A Wassim Tarraf %A Stickel, Ariana %A Kaur, Sonya %A Ramos, Alberto %A Hector M González %K cognition impairment %K midlife health %K older health outcomes %X Data increasingly points to midlife health and modifiable risk factors as critical targets for improving older-age health outcomes and mitigating potential cognitive impairment and disease. We used biennial Health and Retirement Study data (1998-2016) collected on adults ages 50-64 years who did not meet criteria for dementia at baseline and who remained living by 2016 (unweighted-n=4,803). Cognitive status was defined using Langa-Weir criteria: Normal, Cognitively Impaired Not Dementia (CIND), and Dementia. We examined how 18-year patterns in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) predicted cognitive status in 2016. We used latent class analysis to extract longitudinal phenotypes of activities limitations, followed by survey multinomial logistic regressions to examine their associations with cognitive status and test for race/ethnic modifications. We identified three groups of functional impairment: (1) gradually increasing (15.7%), (2) stable elevated (5.6%), and (3) minimal dysfunction (78.7%). After covariates adjustment, both the gradual and stable elevated impairment groups (vs. minimal) had substantially higher relative risk ratios (RRR) for dementia (RRR=5.71[3.89;8.39] and RRR=7.87[4.23,14.64]) and CIND (RRR=2.21 [1.69,2.88] and RRR=1.92[1.16;3.17]). We detected modifications by race/ethnicity such that Hispanics with stable elevated impairment had a higher probability of dementia compared to their White counterparts. The results varied for Blacks and did not significantly differ from Whites. Data-driven methods may improve our understanding of heterogeneous functional impairment patterns among late middle-aged adults and allow for tailored ADRD prevention strategies. Focused risk-based interventions can yield important public health savings and reductions in structural, social, and individual health burdens. %B Innovation in Aging %V 4 %P 897 %@ 2399-5300 %G eng %N Suppl 1 %R 10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3306