retirement.org.nz

As the first wave of “Baby Boomers” approach retirement age, interest in their preparatory behaviours continues to grow. Preliminary results from the Health, Work and Retirement study suggest that people’s retirement planning is influenced by a number of factors including their socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, and their perceptions of retirement. For example, those with more negative perceptions were less likely to be thinking about retirement or discussing it with others and were less likely to be making financial provisions for the future. However, a more theory driven and comprehensive measure of retirement planning is needed to adequately test the theories which explain why retirement planning can vary according to these factors. A process model of planning provides an explanation for how and why people plan, and when used in conjunction with factors such as retirement perceptions and SES, may help to explain why some people plan while others do not. According to this theory, individuals must firstly develop a mental representation of retirement. They then set goals for the future, make a decision to start preparing, and then undertake the necessary activities to meet their specific goals. An individual’s progression through the planning process is highly influenced by their perceived time to retirement, how worthwhile they believe planning to be, and the planning activities of their peers. The implications of this new measure for retirement social policy will be discussed.

Attachment
May 30th 2008 Jack Noone - Retirement Planning .ppt