Quality of life in retirement : a composite model

Includes bibliographical references (leaf [92])A great deal o f research has been devoted to the explanation o f retirement satisfaction. Traditional themes have generally emphasized the importance o f health and financial security as pre-cursors o f a successful transition to the retired lifestyle. Other studies have focused on the nature o f the retirement decision, and the manner in which individuals arrived at retirement. Additionally, gender and religiosity have received attention as predictors o f satisfaction. Furthermore, emphasis has been placed on the importance o f the support structure surrounding the individual and the ability o f the individual to maintain an active role in retirement. In this study, I have utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study(HRS) to develop measures o f these different concepts and evaluate their effect on different dimensions o f retirement satisfaction. The results do support the traditional importance placed on health and financial security. However, the contributions made by health are not as direct as previous studies have concluded. In this study, measures o f health are found to make an indirect contribution through the effect they have on variables which directly contribute to retirement satisfaction, in addition to the direct contributions they provide.M.A. (Master of Arts