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Changes in subjective well-being with retirement: assessing savings adequacy

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  • Garry F. Barrett
  • Milica Kecmanovic

Abstract

Does retirement represent a state of relative prosperity or unanticipated hardship? To assess whether individuals are successful in smoothing their well-being across the transition to retirement we analyse measures of subjective well-being (SWB) in the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. Specifically, this research examines retirees' current standard of living, financial security and overall happiness relative to their pre-retirement levels. It is found SWB either improves or remains constant for the large majority of individuals as they retire from the labour force. However, there are significant disparities in changes in well-being with retirement among the group of retirees. In particular, the subset of individuals who are forced to retire early due to job loss or their own health, and who find their income in retirement to be much less than expected, report marked declines in their SWB with retirement.

Suggested Citation

  • Garry F. Barrett & Milica Kecmanovic, 2013. "Changes in subjective well-being with retirement: assessing savings adequacy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(35), pages 4883-4893, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:45:y:2013:i:35:p:4883-4893
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2013.806786
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kerwin Kofi Charles, 2002. "Is Retirement Depressing?: Labor Force Inactivity and Psychological Well-Being in Later Life," NBER Working Papers 9033, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Keith A. Bender, 2004. "The Well-Being of Retirees: Evidence Using Subjective Data," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2004-24, Center for Retirement Research.
    3. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
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    1. Radó, Márta & Boissonneault, Michaël, 2020. "Short and long-term change in subjective well-being among voluntary and involuntary retirees," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    2. Cathy Honge Gong & Xiaojun He, 2019. "Factors Predicting Voluntary and Involuntary Workforce Transitions at Mature Ages: Evidence from HILDA in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-20, October.
    3. Mattia Filomena & Matteo Picchio, 2023. "Retirement and health outcomes in a meta‐analytical framework," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1120-1155, September.
    4. Anping Chen & Nicolaas Groenewold, 2017. "An increase in the retirement age in China: the regional economic effects," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(7), pages 702-721, February.
    5. Akbaş Müzeyyen Çiğdem & Seedsman Terence, 2024. "Financial Literacy as Part of Empowerment Education for Later Life: A Spectrum of Perspectives, Challenges and Implications for Individuals, Educators and Policymakers in the Modern Digital Economy," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-14.
    6. Xiaobo Xu & Martin Young & Liping Zou & Jiali Fang, 2023. "Retirement Income and Financial Market Participation in New Zealand," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-23, January.
    7. Austen, Siobhan & Kalsi, Jaslin Kaur & Mavisakalyan, Astghik, 2022. "Retirement and the distribution of intra-household wellbeing," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    8. Congressional Budget Office, 2017. "Measuring the Adequacy of Retirement Income: A Primer," Reports 53191, Congressional Budget Office.
    9. Kantha Dayaram & Alistair McGuire, 2019. "Retirement Reforms: Occupational Strain and Health," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 522-542, July.
    10. Kadir Atalay & Garry Barrett, 2022. "Retirement routes and the well-being of retirees," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 2751-2784, November.

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