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The Adequacy of Retirement Savings: Subjective Survey Reports by Retired Canadians

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  • Sule Alan
  • Kadir Atalay
  • Thomas F. Crossley

Abstract

We examine retired Canadians' subjective survey reports of satisfaction with finances, and with life, relative to the period before retirement. Many more retired Canadians report enjoying life more than before retirement than the converse, and in 2002 three-quarters of retired Canadians reported being either as satisfied or more satisfied with their finances than they were in the year prior to retirement. The most significant correlate of financial dissatisfaction that our analysis uncovers is involuntary retirement and, in particular, involuntary retirement associated with poor health.

Suggested Citation

  • Sule Alan & Kadir Atalay & Thomas F. Crossley, 2008. "The Adequacy of Retirement Savings: Subjective Survey Reports by Retired Canadians," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 34(s1), pages 95-118, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:34:y:2008:i:s1:p:95-118
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    Cited by:

    1. Frank T. Denton & Ross Finnie & Byron G. Spencer, 2009. "Income Replacement in Retirement: Longitudinal Evidence from Income Tax Records," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 261, McMaster University.
    2. Garry F. Barrett & Milica Kecmanovic, 2012. "Changes in Subjective Well-being with Retirement: Assessing Savings Adequacy in Australia," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 296, McMaster University.
    3. Dekkers, Gijs, 2008. "Are the old poor? A discussion and some cursory evidence," MPRA Paper 29436, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Sule Alan & Kadir Atalay & Thomas F. Crossley, 2008. "The Adequacy of Retirement Savings: Subjective Survey Reports by Retired Canadians," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 34(s1), pages 95-118, November.
    5. 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).
    6. Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald & Doug Andrews & Robert L. Brown, 2011. "The Canadian Elder Standard - Pricing the Cost of Basic Needs for the Canadian Elderly," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 286, McMaster University.
    7. Xiaobo Xu & Jiali Fang & Martin Young & Liping Zou, 2024. "The impact of post‐retirement financial market participation on retirement income sufficiency in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 903-939, March.
    8. Umar M. A. Boodoo & Rafael Gomez & Morley Gunderson, 2014. "Relative income, absolute income and the life satisfaction of older adults: do retirees differ from the non-retired?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 281-299, July.
    9. Kadir Atalay & Garry Barrett, 2022. "Retirement routes and the well-being of retirees," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 2751-2784, November.
    10. Garry F. Barrett & Matthew Brzozowski, 2010. "Involuntary Retirement and the Resolution of the Retirement-Consumption Puzzle: Evidence from Australia," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 275, McMaster University.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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