The Anticipated Ideas about Retirement Life and Retirement Timing

Jeong Hwa Ho, University of Wisconsin at Madison

This study investigates the relationship between the anticipatory ideas about positive and negative aspects of retirement life and the expected retirement timing. Samples of 4,492 pre-retirees from the first wave of Health and Retirement Survey are analyzed. Results suggest that people regard their ideas about retirement life concerning the expectation on when to retire. People who regard lack of pressure, relaxed lifestyle and more chances for travel as important aspects of retirement life have a lower probability of working full-time after age 62. On the contrary, people who value the advantages of being their own boss and having more time for volunteer work, and people who worry about not doing anything productive and not having enough income expect themselves to stay in the labor force after age 62.