EARLY VERSUS REGULAR RETIREMENT - DIFFERENCES IN MEASURES OF LIFE SATISFACTION

Retirement patterns in the United States indicate an increase in the number of early retirements in recent years. The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences in measures of life satisfaction exist between early and regular retirees. The study also examined the factors of age, sex, length of time retired, living alone or with others, employed or not employed, involved or not involved in volunteer activities, decision to retire, and planning for retirement to determine which factors individually and collectively are related to satisfaction in retirement. Subjects were randomly drawn from populations representing both public and private sector retirees and were divided into two groups, early and regular retirees. Each subject was sent a questionnaire which asked demographic questions and measured four independent aspects of retirement satisfaction, namely activities, people, health, and finance using the Retirement Descriptive Index (RDI). Analysis of variance procedures found no significant differences between the retiree groups. Multiple regression procedures found limited results. Volunteer activity and the sex of the retiree were able to account for only 6% of variation in satisfaction on the activities scale. Planning for retirement was able to account for only 5% of the variation in satisfaction on the financial scale, and length of retirement was able to account for only 3% of the variation in satisfaction on the health scale. Supplementary analysis raised questions about whether or not retirees who fell forced to retire differed on measures of life satisfaction from retirees who felt retirement was their decision. A t-test found a significant difference between these two groups only on the financial scale. Further research is necessary in this area.