Changes in Self-Rated Health During the Transition to Retiring Living Among Medicare Managed-Care Recipients

ABSTRACT

Moving into a retirement community may be precipitated by or bring about changes in health status. We hypothesized that moving into a retirement community would be associated with a decline in self-rated health (SRH), but that health-related factors would mitigate this association. We analyzed data from 58,272 participants in Cohort 3 of the Medicare Health Outcome Survey. Individuals answered questions regarding living status in 2000 and 2002. Those who moved into a retirement community were compared with those who did not. The primary outcome was change in SRH. We created adjusted and unadjusted models. A total of 2,520 participants (4.4%) moved into retirement communities between 2000 and 2002. There were no substantial differences in the mean change in SRH between those who moved and those who did not. In adjusted and unadjusted models, moving was not significantly associated with changes in SRH. In an analysis stratified by SRH, only those with the best SRH had a significant decline in SRH during the move. SRH mainly remained stable for most people regardless of moving into a retirement community. These findings argue against environmental context being a main determinant of self-perceived health status among older adults.     

Predicting End‐of‐Career Transitions for Baby Boomers Nearing Retirement Age

Retirement has traditionally been conceptualized as a point‐in‐time decision to physically and psychologically withdraw from the workforce on reaching a certain age. However, the expectations of older workers demonstrate a new retirement paradigm, with many more retirement trajectories. The purpose of this study was to examine actual career decisions being made by older workers and to understand sociodemographic factors that might differentiate their career trajectories. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (Juster & Suzman, 1995 ) were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression to compare 4 retirement trajectories (i.e., no retirement, full retirement, bridge employment, and encore career). Gender, age, education, marital status, health, and wealth differentially predicted the odds of pursuing each of the 4 retirement decisions. Career practitioners may use these results to help baby boomers make retirement decisions and provide them with appropriate education, guidance, and resources. Additional research is needed to examine other factors salient to each of the retirement trajectories.     

Determinants of Retirement Timing Expectations in the United States and Australia: A Cross-National Comparison of the Effects of Health and Retirement Benefit Policies on Retirement Timing Decisions

Data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (N = 2,589) and the Australian Household Income and Labour Dynamics survey (N = 1,760) were used to compare the macro-level policy frameworks on individual retirement timing expectations for pre–baby boomers (61+ years) and early baby boomers (45 to 60 years). Australian workers reported younger expected age of retirement compared to the U.S. sample. Reporting poor health was more strongly associated with younger expected retirement age in the United States than in Australia. Cohort and gender differences in the United States were found for the effect of private health insurance on younger expected age at retirement. Our results draw attention to how cross-national comparisons can inform us on the effects of policies on retirement expectations among older workers.     

Medicare Privatization and the Erosion of Retirement Security

This paper describes initiatives to privatize the Medicare program over the last 10 years and the implications of these initiatives for the future of retirement security. Our analysis focuses on the privatization provisions of the Medicare Modernization Act, which is largely designed to benefit the corporate health care sector without containing costs or significantly reducing the threat of rising health care costs to the economic security of current and future retirees. In fact, as designed, the Medicare Modernization Act is likely to increase the threat to retirement security in the years ahead. We conclude with a series of policy alternatives to the neoliberal agenda for the privatization of Medicare.     

Attitudes Toward Aging and Retirement Homes Before and After Entry Into a Retirement Home

The change of one's habitual living conditions in favor of institutionalized living in a retirement home can be a stressful event. Therefore, the question arises: How does entry into a retirement home affect attitudes toward one's life and aging and toward retirement homes? In order to answer this question, we used longitudinal data from 53 older individuals who were surveyed before and after entry into a retirement home. The data revealed that attitudes toward one's life and aging changed negatively and attitudes toward retirement homes changed positively; however, there are gains and losses in both attitudes.     

Effect of Health on Retirement of Older Americans: a Competing Risks Study

Retirement is an important event in the life of an individual. The decision to retire or exit from full-time employment may be motivated by several factors, including health. This paper explores the effect of both subjective and relatively more objective physical and mental health conditions on the probability of exit from full-time employment. Using longitudinal data on older Americans from ten waves of the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2010), eight health indices are created from a wide range of health measures by principal component analysis. The effect of these health indices on the time until exit from full-time employment is empirically examined in a proportional hazard model. Single and competing risk specifications are estimated that allow for multiple spells of full-time employment and control for unobserved heterogeneity. The main results suggest that better self-reported health decreases the likelihood of exit from full- time employment, while poor physical health (functional limitations factor) increases the likelihood of exit from full-time employment via complete retirement and disability. For mental health, I find that depression increases the likelihood of exit via complete retirement, part-time work and unemployment while cognitive disorders lead to an increase in likelihood of exit via the disability exit route. Hence, physical and mental health problems are both impediments to continued work. These results have implications for public policies targeted towards retaining older workers within the labor market.     

I Do … Want to Save: Marriage and Retirement Savings in Young Households

Increased policy and academic attention has been placed on promoting retirement savings early in the life course. This study investigates the extent to which retirement savings behavior among young persons, a population for which retirement savings is important but typically low, differs by marital status. We draw national survey data on young adult households (ages 22–35; N = 3,894) from the U.S. Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Results reveal considerable differences by marital status. Controlling for important characteristics, young adults who were married were more likely than all other groups (including cohabitors) to perceive retirement as an important savings goal and to have an individual retirement account. Married persons were more likely than their single counterparts to participate in a defined contribution pension plan. Single women fared particularly poorly on retirement savings outcomes. A range of possible theoretical links between marriage and retirement savings at young adulthood are discussed.     

EBRI 2008 recent retirees survey: report of findings

Understanding how to achieve longer work lives: The 2008 Recent Retirees Survey was undertaken to better understand the tools and practices that might encourage workers to postpone their retirement and remain longer with their company. Why do people retire when they do? Respondents typically retired from employers for one of four reasons: retirement becomes affordable, lack of job satisfaction, a desire for more personal or family time, and/or their own health status. Narrow window for asking people to work longer: One of the major findings from the survey is that employers have a narrow window of up to two years in which they may be able to intervene to change retiring workers' decisions by offering them incentives to remain with the company. Employers may just need to ask: Many retirees report they would have been open to an approach from their employer asking them to stay longer with the company. Sixty-one percent say they would have viewed the experience positively. Just 10 percent indicate they would have reacted negatively to an approach asking them to delay their retirement. Work incentives vary in appeal: The survey tested a total of 19 possible incentives that might encourage retiring workers to postpone retirement. Four of these appear especially likely to be successful: Half of retirees (48 percent) indicate that feeling truly needed for an assignment would have been extremely or very effective in encouraging them to delay their retirement. Moreover, of those ranking this as one of the top two most effective incentives, 72 percent say it might have prompted them to stay at least two more years with the company. Half of retirees with a defined benefit pension state receiving a full pension while working part time would have been effective in delaying their retirement (50 percent), and almost as many feel this way about receiving a partial pension while working part time (44 percent). Seven in 10 of those rating each among the top two most effective incentives report they would likely have stayed at least two more years if it had been offered to them (72 percent for full pension, 71 percent for partial pension). However, this would necessitate a change in federal law and several other compensation-related incentives may be almost as compelling. Thirty-eight percent report that being able to work seasonally or on a contract basis would have been effective in encouraging them to delay retirement. Among those rating this as one of the top two incentives, more than three-quarters (77 percent) say it might have prompted them to stay two years or more with the company.     

The Potential of A College Town As A Retirement Community

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of college towns as retirement communities. The uniqueness of college towns as potential retirement communities are identified and discussed. Differences between college towns and Sunbelt state retirement destinations regarding the factors that are most concerned by retiree migrants in their decision-making for relocation were compared. The results showed no differences between the college towns and the Sunbelt state retirement cities. Only a few differences existed among the college town subgroups. The findings are of value to the senior living industry, local government and chamber of commerce in their efforts in marketing college towns as prospective retirement communities.     

Working Longer May Be Good Public Policy,But It Is Not Necessarily Good for Older People

Older people are facing a changed set of expectations regarding work and retirement. Until quite recently early retirement was being encouraged. Today's older workers, however, are contemplating longer working lives amid policy concerns about the costs of social welfare associated with an aging population. While working longer is, almost universally, being promoted as a social and individual good this article argues that this policy shift is unlikely to change the situation of many older workers who would have needed to continue working anyway. It also argues that the emphasis on prolonged employment undervalues engagement in activities beyond employment. As well, it argues that the emphasis on prolonging employment neglects to account for the attendant risks for many of continuing to work or having to seek work and the potential health- and well-being-enhancing effects of retirement.     

Impact of retirement type on income for people with disabilities

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of involuntary retirement on the economic security of persons with a disability. Very little research examines the economic consequences to forced retirement and no research focuses on persons with disabilities who have a higher rate of involuntary retirement than the general population. Analysing the 2006 Canadian Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, we find that persons with a disability who involuntarily retire have lower median personal and household incomes and they are more likely to be under the low-income cut-off point than those who retire voluntarily. When socio-demographic, socio-economic and geographical characteristics are controlled; those who retired involuntarily are more likely to be under the low-income cut-off point than those whose retirement was voluntary. Further, those who retired involuntarily are more likely to receive disability benefits whereas those who retired voluntarily are more likely to receive retirement income. The authors argue for employers and governments to implement accommodation in the workplace and flexible employment opportunities so that more persons with disabilities are able to continue in their employment for as long as possible.     

Potential Consequences of Raising the Social Security Eligibility Age on Low-Income Older Workers

Abstract

To examine the potential consequences of raising the Social Security retirement age on future cohorts of low-income elders, this study, based on data from the Health and Retirement Study, 1992–1994, identifies factors that may hinder or facilitate continuous employment among older workers born between 1931 and 1941. Specifically, following the analysis of labor-force participation rates and self-reported reasons for non-work, multivariate logistic regression models tested the relationship between individual strengths and constraints, social-structural opportunities and constraints, and economic need variables and the likelihood of work. The findings show that for both men and women, having disabilities was the most significant predictor of non-work. Racial differences, especially in men's labor-force participation rates, appeared to be due in large part to significant racial differences in disability rates. A higher proportion of blacks and Hispanics than whites also reported that they were unemployed. Based on the findings, raising the Social Security eligibility age is likely to result in increased numbers of Disability Insurance (DI) claimants, and the fiscal impact of such an increase needs to be examined. The need to assist unemployed older persons is also discussed.     

A Comparison of Early Retirement Pensions in the United States and Russia

Abstract

Early retirement pensions for particular occupations free national policy to establish the social security early retirement age at a later age that is more appropriate for the population as a whole. This paper focuses on early retirement pensions in the United States and the Russian Federation. While comparing early retirement pensions generally, the paper provides a more detailed discussion of the pensions for musicians. While this is an unconventional group to choose for the study of pensions, study of their pensions yields insights into the principles underlying retirement age policy in the two countries.     

Wealth, Reservation Wealth, and the Decision to Retire

This paper introduces a model of retirement wealth choice. Reservation wealth is defined as the level of wealth at which an individual is indifferent between retiring and not retiring. Economic theory is used to generate hypotheses concerning how an individual's characteristics determine his or her reservation wealth. An econometric strategy is outlined for estimating these determinants, given that reservation wealth is not directly observed. This strategy is then employed using the 1992 Survey of Consumer Finances. The findings imply that individuals respond fairly conservatively, with respect to their retirement planning, to changes in their income. It is also found that married men and women choose their reservation wealth in very different ways.     

Exploring Women's Retirement: Continuity,Context and Career Transition

This paper reports on an exploratory study examining women's views about and experiences of retirement. It has long been recognized that women's careers often follow a different path than men's due to the differential impact of family and domestic responsibilities and their relative underrepresentation at higher levels of organizations. However, many studies of retirement have implicitly assumed a conventional male career as the norm, where retirement is seen as marking a neat ending to continuous employment. This paper aims to present a richer understanding of women's retirement, utilizing contextual national data and qualitative analysis. The paper begins with a brief summary of literature looking at women's career development. We then explore the concept of retirement and consider current literature with regard to women's retirement. Following a brief discussion of our research approach, we provide some national context using quantitative data. We then discuss the qualitative findings, examining the areas of continuity and change that women experienced in retirement and exploring the factors that they felt enabled and constrained them.     

Retirement Village Resident Satisfaction in Australia: A Qualitative Enquiry

ABSTRACT

There has been limited research into the types of customer satisfaction experienced by residents in leisure-oriented retirement communities, particularly in Australia and the United Kingdom. Focus groups were conducted at a series of retirement communities. Results have lead to the development of a typology of retirement community resident satisfaction containing five different domains, including the Built Environment, the Financial Environment, the Service Delivery Environment, the Social Environment, and the Spiritual Environment. Furthermore, these five satisfaction domains encompass up to 24 distinct types or facets of customer satisfaction experienced by residents. This proposed typology of leisure-oriented retirement communities’ resident satisfaction is the most comprehensive investigation of retirement village customer satisfaction to date. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed, including recommendations for the measuring, managing, and marketing of customer satisfaction with retirement community living.     

Where Is “Place” in Aging in Place? Transnational Issues for the Danish State and Its Retirement Migrants Abroad

The aim of this article is to contribute a transnational perspective to the field of environmental gerontology and the concept of aging in place. Seniors from the northern hemisphere, among them Danish citizens, are increasingly adapting to transnational lives as they move to warmer climates. This article builds on a qualitative study among Danish retirement migrants regarding their experiences with the need for care or support while living abroad. Denmark is a welfare state with a long history of public nursing homes and in-home care for frail elderly persons. This system of governance is influenced by universalism, aiming at equality in terms of access to health services and care. However, these welfare provisions seem to be deeply embedded in methodological nationalism, since only citizens with residence within the borders of Denmark have the right to live in public nursing homes or receive in-home help. It is argued that we should consider public solutions to the problems faced by frail Danish citizens in transnational settings, enhancing their opportunities to live abroad.     

Transition to Grandparenthood and Job‐Related Attitudes: Do Grandparental Sex and Lineage Matter?

This study investigated the impact of the transition to grandparenthood on employees' psychological involvement in their job, attitude toward retirement, and retirement‐related hopes and concerns, taking into account sex and lineage. The participants were 152 maternal and paternal grandparents who were assessed at 2 time points (approximately 2 months before and 3 months after the birth of their first grandchild) and 76 control participants who completed the same assessments with an interval of 6 months. Both grandmothers and grandfathers were less involved in their job and had more family‐related hopes and fewer retirement‐related concerns about health, finances, and dependence than control participants. The analyses also revealed lineage effects: Maternal grandparents were less psychologically involved in their job and had a more positive attitude toward retirement, in particular fewer fears of uselessness and loneliness, than paternal grandparents.     

Retirement Intentions of Same-Sex Couples

Summary

Retirement intentions of same-sex and opposite-sex couples were investigated. Data were drawn from the Cornell Couples and Careers Study. The sample consists of 32 women in same-sex relationships, 7 men in same-sex relationships, 30 men and women in cohabiting relationships, and 30 married men and women. Participants' responses to such questions as age expected to retire, age they began retirement planning, degree of financial planning for retirement, degree of preparation for housing and healthcare, and plans for post-retirement work and volunteering were analyzed. Female same-sex couples self-rate on financial planning for retirement to a significantly lower degree than married couples. The implications for post-retirement well-being and the need for financial planning are discussed.